Without A Stair
by SunGold16
Summary: Rampion grown for immortality. A prophesy of death. A horrible sin, and the punishment for the crime. The classic story of Rapunzel, retold.
1. Taste Thine Immortal Wine

DISCLAIMER: Only the basic plot and characters are not mine.  
  
Author's Note: Weeeeeee! I love this stuff. I kinda got tired of "Once Upon A Psychologist" so this is a new project I started tonight. For those of you who enjoy this allow me to recommend my earlier work, a Sleeping Beauty retelling, "Spindles and Roses". Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter One~~  
  
**Demeter's POV**  
  
It was early morning. I had climbed the short flight of clay steps to the highest window to watch the sunrise over the Eastern hills. This task was becoming more and more difficult each day as I was now seven months with child and was beginning to feel the weight of my lovely burden.  
  
I settled myself down upon a cushion and unlatched the window so as to view the dawn more clearly, and smell the fresh spring air that Persephone had breathed into being. There was still a chill in the morning air and the beads of dew on the vines encircling my window felt icy to the touch. I shifted position to accommodate my ample belly and gazed out at the horizon.  
  
The rosy fingertips of dawn were just tracing the fringe of low clouds, setting them afire with golden edges that slowly spread throughout the mist. The clouds were heavy and had begun to rumble, in warning of the coming storm. Even the air, and gentle breeze smelt of rain. I sighed as my belly made echoing rumbles. My baby was hungry.  
  
I glanced downward into the garden next door. Our only neighbor was an elderly woman who was something of a recluse. I had met her only once, when we first moved into this little house, when I discovered that I was with child. She had a strange passion for growing herbs and other plants in her stonewalled garden, and seemed to get along well enough by herself. We had barely exchanged nods since I had introduced myself to her on the day of our arrival.  
  
Looking into her garden I noted tomatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers, all unnaturally large. The tomatoes were the size of my head, carrots must have ran three feet down, the onions looked like small boulders in the early morning light, and the peppers, had they been carved out, would have made boats for children. However, none of these interested me, my eyes were drawn to the little brook that ran through the back half of her garden, the brook where she grew watercress.  
  
The long narrow leaves were dark green and would have tasted ever so good in a salad. I knew that they were not mine, and that I should not long for them, but they say that women have unusual desires for certain foods in their pregnancies and as I had never been a mother before they frightened me a little. I feared I might loose the child should I deny her this rampion.  
  
I wished desperately that the old woman were home. If she had been I could have offered to buy some of the precious leaves. As it was, she had been gone now for over a month, and her naturally irrigated garden was tempting me. The cravings ate away at the insides of my stomach.  
  
There was a creak of the floorboards behind me and I turned to find my husband, Fritjof, coming to lay his hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Demeter? Are you not well?" his eyes were filled with concern.  
  
I laid my hand on top of his, "I just wish I could have some of that rampion. If only the little woman were home so I might buy it from her."  
  
"Are your cravings that bad? Would not something else suffice?"  
  
I sighed, "No. My baby wants rampion." There was a few moments pause until I said quietly, "The cravings are so horrible. I fear I shall die if I do not eat some."  
  
Frit pulled me towards him. "I will get you some."  
  
"No, that would be stealing Frit!"  
  
He held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes, "I will not have you or the baby suffer. I will leave a few pieces of silver on her doorstep for when she returns. Surely an elderly woman won't mind for the good of a child and it's mother!"  
  
I looked away, "I suppose not. But you will leave payment?"  
  
"Twice the value."  
  
**Fritjof's POV**  
  
I was lucky there was a full moon tonight. It enabled me to see my way. The elderly woman's house was locked so I could not pass through it to her garden.  
  
The garden was surrounded completely by high stone walls. I threw a rope with a hook on it over the barrier and used the rope to pull myself up on.  
  
For a few moments I sat atop the wall catching my breath. I surveyed the garden to find the watercress and while I sat, was fascinated by her ingenious irrigation system. Being the merchant I am, I'm always on the lookout for new technologies.  
  
At last I spotted the rows of rampion and leapt off the wall to retrieve some. I squatted down beside the brook and pulled up a few handfuls. Creeping back to the rope I dropped a few coins in payment on the woman's doorstep.  
  
I stuffed the greens into my satchel and climbed back over the wall, into my own flower garden. I was rather relieved to be done with the unpleasant chore. Somehow this just didn't feel ethical, taking vegetables from an elderly woman like this, but I knew that my wife needed them, sweet woman. I did not want her to die. For it is said that when pregnant women's peculiar cravings are not filled that the pregnancy will not run its course properly. I would not feel at ease until the woman had returned and I had explained the situation to her.  
  
When I returned home Demeter kissed me and quickly began making a scrumptious salad with a few of our own carrots and tomatoes. When finished, she licked her fingers and said, "That's better. She isn't kicking me anymore. I knew this would help."  
  
I smiled and we went to bed. But that was not the end of it. The next day the craving returned, and the next and the next. Every night for the next two months I scaled the old woman's wall to fetch some rampion, and every morning my wife hungered for it again.  
  
Towards her due date Demeter became ravenous and ate everything insight. I was scaling the wall two, sometimes three times a day to relieve her pains. There was now a small basket of silver pieces at the woman's doorstep in payment, but I still felt guilty for the small sin we had committed. 


	2. For Pang of Jealousy

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.  
  
Author's Note: Guys......REVIEW!!!!!!! I mean it! PLEASE?????? Pretty please?  
  
~~Chapter Two~~  
  
**Agrona's POV**  
  
It had been a long three months since I had left my cottage. I had been summoned to the royal palace nearly three leagues away at the request of Queen Rhiannon to ensure that the final months of her pregnancy went smoothly. She knew of my powers and wished me to preside while her baby prince was born, and to prophesy over him when he entered the world.  
  
It had been with some reserve that I had left my cottage. I had been growing my rampion in the garden, and it was nearly time for harvest. I was uneasy for these greens were of special value to me. They blossomed only every fifty years, and within the leaves resided magical properties of which would give any magical creature who partook of them everlasting life. As I was already three hundred and twelve years old I needed to eat a plant a month in order to ensure my immortality, and as the rampion only blossomed every fifty years, if I missed a harvest, it could very easily spell my doom.  
  
As I rode my pony the last mile home I began to reflect upon the last twenty four hours with some unease and tightening in my chest. It had been a difficult birth. I could remember the sweaty, humid room, lit only by firelight from the hearth. The Queen was a petite, frail thing should never have had to bear a child. She was much to light, her bones to fragile, and her pelvis to narrow. But she had struggled through. Crying, screaming, praying, cursing, she had fought, gripping the pillows about her and releasing feathers when she had torn them to shreds with her violent jerks.  
  
"Oh God help me!"  
  
"We're almost there hon," the midwife had reassured her in a soothing voice, her face dripping with perspiration, gray curls sticking to her forehead, "Just a little longer."  
  
The Queen writhed on her down mattress. Face illuminated by the firelight, drenched in sweat, she moaned and tossed her head, the stupid woman had not eaten properly during her last trimester. If she had she would have weighed another twenty pounds. But she had not wanted to gain weight from the pregnancy and had only pecked at her food. Now she was paying the price of vanity.  
  
I observed all this from the shadows of the corner of the chamber, standing in the cold of the stone walls, away from the oppressing heat of the bedside. It does not suit me to reveal my gnarled face to many. It is easier to control situations from an objective, reserved, viewpoint, when everything is visible.  
  
A scream sliced through the thick air, and I heard a high-pitched wail from the bedside. The baby had emerged. There was a round of applause and many jubilant cries from the birthing area as the little Prince shrieked in indignation at being subjected to this indignity. I edged into the light, pulling my cloak closer to shroud my face.  
  
The Queen was collapsed and panting on her down pillows as the midwife and aids cleaned up the infant and wrapped him in silken blankets. Raising up with great effort, Queen Rhainnon took the baby in her arms and smiled down upon him.  
  
"So, you're the one I went through that for?" she said softly, caressing his forehead with her palm. She leaned closer to him and whispered, "You were worth it."  
  
"He's beautiful milady," the midwife murmured.  
  
"Yes he is," she paused and seemed to be meditating on something until finally announcing proudly, "He shall be called Christian, in honor of the faith we kept through his difficult birth."  
  
I approached the mother and her babe. All other nurses and aids scuttled away as though repelled by my presence. With firm hands I lifted the child from the Queen's arms and turned his face to the golden light. It was young and smooth, soft in the warm glow, untainted by time and knowledge. I closed my eyes and allowed my subconscious to overwhelm thought. Images began to flash through my mind.  
  
"I see a great enigma ahead...a high barrier..." I murmured. There was a cage...with a golden bird with in...silent screams filled my mind...  
  
"Christian will cross the barricade to free a golden bird from an unlocked cage..."  
  
More screaming...darkness...  
  
"...there will come a great blackness from a fall..."  
  
Blood...then...my own face flashed before my eyes... open mouthed in horror...pale and cold...a face of death...  
  
My eyes flew open and I beheld a roomful of anxious faces staring raptly at me. I took a few deep breaths. My death...I examined the child in my arms...the infant I cradled would one day bring about my own demise.  
  
He was so fragile, so delicate. If I were to wrap my hands around his neck I could cut his thread of life in an instant. I shifted ever so slightly to cover his mouth with my left hand, to stifle his cries...until the silence of the room brought me back to reality. I was being watched.  
  
"Agrona?" the Queen addressed me in a worried voice, "Are you all right?"  
  
I removed my hand from the sleeping infant's face and returned him reluctantly to his mother's arms. Restoring my doom to safety.  
  
The pony's hooves clip-clopped on the hard worn road and I gripped the reigns harder, as though they were the infant I wished to crush. I was only about a hundred yards away from home now. I could just see the dark silhouette of my cottage in the distance, dwarfed by the colossal stone wall surrounding my garden. Something wasn't right. I could sense it like a foul stench, the aura emitted from my home.  
  
Reaching my front door I dismounted and hobbled inside as quickly as I could. Nothing inside was amiss. Newts eyes, toad warts, and dragon's liver still labeled and arranged alphabetically on their appropriate shelves. I pulled open the back door and stumbled onto a mound of silver coins. In slight confusion and mild disgust I kicked the majority off the step and into the carrot patch. Then I saw it. My rampion was gone. I crouched low to examine the earth and found it to be loose, as though my greens had been pulled from the ground. Only a few malnourished patches remained, those in the dark corners where the sun could not shine and warm their leaves. Already they had split open to pollinate and the leaves fell to the ground like long women's braids.  
  
From over the garden wall I heard joyous singing floating in the evening breeze. 


	3. New Periods of Pain

DISCLAIMER: You know the drill.  
  
Author's Note: Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! You rock my world! By the way, there was a question asked about rampion, yes it is a real vegetable. In fact, you may have noticed this in the fanfic, ch 2, but when the witch looks at her few remaining plants that are wilting and notices that the stalks have split and the leaves look like a woman's braids...rampion really does that. When it has not been pollinated rampion splits down the stalk for asexual reproduction and the leaves coil up to look like a woman's plait. Cool huh?  
  
~~Chapter Three~~  
  
**Demeter's POV**  
  
The birth had been a smooth one, strangely better than most, or so my midwife told me. She said it was unusual for a birthing to be as easy as mine was, and told me that I must have been eating well before hand. I agreed. The rampion Fritjof had given to me had tasted sweeter than honey and had given me energy beyond what I had ever known. In the past few months I had felt more healthy, and happy than I ever had in my entire life. There was something about it that agreed with me.  
  
It seemed to agree with my baby girl even more. When the midwife had her she was dumb for a few minutes until she finally stammered, "She's the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!" And she was, my child had eyes the color of the sky on a summer's day, and already had sprouted golden curls from her perfect head.  
  
The first days with her were pure bliss. Fritjof and I played with her out in the sunshine and marveled at how lucky we were to have had a baby, and such a perfect one as that. At night Fritjof placed her in a bassinet at the foot of our bed, but it wasn't ten minutes before I had risen and brought her into bed with us. And there we slept, our little one, so delicate, protected by her parents, in a sea of quilts. Safe, secure. At one point during the night I awoke out of instinct to check on my baby, and watching her, perfect form outlined in the moonlight, I stroked her fine hair and vowed to myself that I would never let any harm come to her.  
  
Then next morning when we awakened I made a luxurious breakfast and as I was washing up the pans there came a knock at the door.  
  
Wiping my hands on my apron I opened the oak door to find a messenger on the step.  
  
"'allo ma'am."  
  
"Hello lad, do you bring me news?"  
  
The young boy's chest puffed out with pride as he announced, "The Queen Rhainnon gave birth to a prince two days ago. Every one in the kingdom is invited to celebrate with a national holiday."  
  
I clapped my hands with delight, "How wonderful! And so interesting, I have just given birth two days ago myself, to a baby girl!"  
  
The lad smiled, "That's wonderful ma'am! May I ask 'er name?"  
  
"I'm not sure yet," I replied, though this was not the truth. There was a name lurking in the dark depths of my imagination. But I was frightened of it, as the name seemed to represent the sin my husband and I had committed, stealing the...rapunzel. "What is the name of our future king?"  
  
"Prince Christian."  
  
"Oh that's lovely!" I exclaimed, "I will pray that he grows into a fine man."  
  
"Good day to you ma'am."  
  
"Good day," I shut the door and danced with delight. The Queen was such a delicate creature, I had feared that she might never give our nation an heir, and then where would we be?  
  
That evening, as the twilight was falling, Fritjof took a book of fables off the bookshelf and read to us as I nursed my little girl. We read for nearly an hour, until my baby finished her supper and Fritjof finished the fable. Then I began to sing, slowly and quietly at first, then louder and with more passion as I observed my wonderful family and thanked God for providing for us with this love. Fritjof stood to put his arms around me.  
  
But just as I reached out to take his hand, our front door burst open and a wind, cold as ice, shot through the house. I stopped singing and my child began to cry. It was the elderly woman who lived next door that stood in our doorway, eyes afire with anger. She threw a basket at us and silver coins scattered all over the parlor.  
  
"Where is it?!" she cried. I would have sword that her eyes began to glow a horrible green hue. "Where is my rampion?!"  
  
Fritjof crossed between the woman and myself. "I'm sorry, we did not know you had returned ma'am..."  
  
"My name is Agrona!" she shrieked, "I am a witch more powerful than you could ever dream and you have had the gall to steal my rapunzel! Tell me where it is before I turn you to stone and look for it myself!"  
  
I spoke up, "I'm sorry Agrona, I was pregnant and needed the rampion to stay healthy. We took some from your garden. We left these silver pieces for you in payment," I babbled, picking up a coin that had fallen in my lap and holding it up for the witch to see. "I have eaten your rampion."  
  
A look of horror overcame the witch and she flew at me! I tried to rise but she clawed at my arms and wrenched my baby from my grasp!  
  
"Give her back!"  
  
My little girl began to cry harder as the witch held her high for examination. She toyed with her blonde curls and a look of dawning realization crossed her face. "You ate my rampion did you say? While you were pregnant?"  
  
"Yes," I said cautiously, reaching for my child. The witch brushed me aside and continued, "Did you notice anything strange about yourself or the child afterwards?"  
  
Why had she asked that? What did she know about how I had been feeling? "Yes. I have simply felt more healthy and energized. But my baby," here I made another grab for her.  
  
Fritjof interupted, "The child has been strangest. She seems, not quite...normal."  
  
The witch and I looked at each other out of the corners of our eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked Fritjof.  
  
"Yesterday, I had a cut on my arm. As I was holding her she started to cry and when her tears touched my wound...it healed," Fritjof confessed.  
  
The witch lowered my baby but did not return her to me. She simply cradled her against her chest, stroking her golden hair. "I will require payment for the rampion..."  
  
"That's what the sil..." Fritjof began, but was cut off by the witch.  
  
"I do not need silver!" Her eyes flashed, "I am a witch. Your currency has no value to me."  
  
"What can we give you then?" I asked, anxious to retrieve my child from this woman.  
  
"This child."  
  
"NO!" Fritjof and I screamed together.  
  
Again her eyes glowed their green tint, "This is not a choice. I'm taking the child. She is all that can compensate for my loss." For a brief moment an almost maternal look crossed the witch's face and she said quietly, "Her name shall be Rapunzel."  
  
Then, with a howl of wind and a great cry, the witch spun and disappeared into thin air.  
  
I screamed and reached for the green haze that had been left in her wake, but to no avail. I fell to the floor and began to cry. My baby had disappeared. My Rapunzel was gone. 


	4. Prison Without Doors

DISCLAIMER: As always.  
  
Author's Note: Hey! Guys, REVIEW! Plllleeeeeaaaaasssseeeeee? This is not a chapter I'm really proud of, it was necessary and that's all there is to it, but I would LOVE to have a few reviews to help me out.  
  
~~Chapter Four~~  
  
Reappearing a few miles away in a forest clearing, I summoned all my strength to transport my cottage to our current location. Try moving an entire house sometime, it was exhausting, but it had to be done. I had just kidnapped a child and certainly could not reside in a cottage next door to her parents, and I was too old to build a new house for myself.  
  
I glanced down at the child in my arms. She lay sleeping, her silken gold curls, falling low on her forehead. I did not want to do what I had done, but it was necessary. The stupid woman had eaten all my rampion. I had to have that rapunzel to survive. To a magical creature such as myself the rampion would give everlasting life, but to a mere mortal it would have more minor effects. The energy and health the woman had described, the child's healing tears, all were tell-tale signs.  
  
I no longer had my rampion to sustain me...that is where the baby came in. Normally I detest children. They are too noisy and clingy, but taking Rapunzel was necessary. In her veins flowed the enchantment I needed to exist. From my studies of the human anatomy I have learned that whatever the mortal has consumed, it will reveal it's self in their hair, and judging from the blonde curls already sprouting from Rapunzel's forehead, I was right. As long as her hair grew, as long as I could run my fingers through it everyday, I would survive to grow another garden of rampion.  
  
Still not quite sure how to handle the creature in my arms I walked with her into the house and laid her in a conjured bassinet. Now that I had this child I was stuck with her. She would have to stay inside the cottage. For the first few years this would not be a problem, but after that? If she were allowed outside some stranger might take her away from me...some man. No, I could not have that. She must remain under my constant supervision.  
  
And so began the first seven years of imprisonment. I was practically chained to this child. She was literally my life, for without her hair, I would die. It certainly wasn't an ideal distance. Running my hands through her locks was a poor substitute for eating the rampion it's self. I felt much older and my joints creaked more, but it would have to do, I had no other recourse.  
  
I fed her milk I bought from dairy farmers and sewed her garments from fabric I had spun myself. She was a pleasant child, not a boisterous brat like most, rather quiet unless greatly distressed in which case her cries were almost pleasant to listen to. She would develop the most beautiful singing voice by the time she was five, and as the rampion seemed to have enhanced her features, she grew even more astoundingly beautiful everyday.  
  
Though I kept her only out of necessity, and had already begun growing a new patch of rampion, she was so sweet and gentle and lovely that I almost enjoyed her company.  
  
As Rapunzel began to grow she began to long to journey out of doors into the forests. Of course I would never allow that, she might be hurt or lost or even worse...kidnapped. I could not have that.  
  
One morning when Rapunzel was seven years old she asked me, "Agrona, why can't I play outside? I want to see the forest. You have told me about rabbits and deer and flowers, but I still don't understand. I want to see them for myself." Her eyes shown with desire and even twinkles slightly of rebellion.  
  
It was then, staring at the beautiful young girl, golden ropes of hair already trailing the floor that I realized what I must do. I could no longer keep her here with me, it was too dangerous. She could run out of the house at any moment and be gone forever. It was only her good nature and gentle obedience that had kept her here so long, but this would not last forever. Soon, her temptation would be too much.  
  
It was that night that I took her, hooded and trailing behind me, clutching my hand over a hill, and into a small clearing in the woods, where a watch tower for the royal military had stood empty for many years. I brought her to the top chamber and using a few waves of my wand swept away the cobwebs and generally made the place inhabitable.  
  
Then, turning to Rapunzel, I explained, "You are too stay here, in this tower."  
  
"For how long?" the inquisitive child asked.  
  
`For the rest of your life` was probably not the best of answers. I simply ignored the question. "I will return once every day to bring you your meals and braid your hair."  
  
"But Agrona, why do I have to stay here? Why can't I live in the cottage with you?"  
  
"Because Rapunzel, it is much too dangerous. You will be safer in here, within these walls."  
  
With that I turned and walked down the long flight of stairs to the entry door of the tower. There was only one thing left to do.  
  
Raising my arms, I muttered an enchantment, and dispelled the door. "Rapunzel?" I cried, "You are to let no one in but me. Everyday when I come I shall call out, 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb without a stair!' and you shall tie your braids to the hooks on your window and I shall climb up."  
  
She leaned out her window, "Yes, Agrona."  
  
"Remember Rapunzel, I am your protector. I will keep you safe. Trust in that," and with that I turned and hobbled away. As I rounded the edge of the hill I turned to look back one last time. There she was, a golden angel, locked safe in her prison without a door. 


	5. Keeps Esoteric Time

DISCLAIMER: As usual.  
  
Author's Note: Thank you to ALL of my wonderful reviewers! Especially Naughty Little Munchkin, moonlitigress, and kaio(). Singingstrawberri, you are awesome! Thank you soooo much. YOU brighten MY day! FYI: The name, "Demeter" for anyone who knows anything about Greek mythology was the name of the Goddess of Grain, aka, "Earth Mother", also the mother of Persephone. This name was chosen for Rapunzel's mother because of the significance of nature (ie rampion) in her motherhood and for the fact that the Rapunzel story can easily be alluded to that of Persephone. The names Fritjof, Agrona, and Rhaniannan all hold significance in their meaning. By the way, I have not read, "Zel" by: Donna Jo Napoli. But that's a weird coincidence. Thank you all and keep it up!  
  
~~Chapter Five~~  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
I rolled over in my bed as the gentle rays of sunshine skimmed my eyes. It was dawn. I sat up amidst my sea of silken sheets and down pillows to watch the sky lighten. Somewhere a bird lifted his voice to the heavens in praise of the sun. Rising from my berth I slid my feet into a pair of soft slippers and padded over to my window to examine this phenomenon as I had for thousands of mornings previous, and each of them, in vain.  
  
I lived amongst riches and luxuries, but I possessed only one window. It faced North. For the last twelve years I had seen nothing but what was viewable out of this one window. Everyday the same forest and giant hill that blocked my view of the surrounding countryside.  
  
I sighed and fingered the latch on the glass panes, which I closed only in the event of a storm. The window was of a decent size, with a large golden hook at it's base. Once a day, generally in the late morning, Agrona came to deliver me my meals. She would ascend the tower I resided in by using my hair, tied to the hook, to pull herself up. I was eighteen years old and my hair was fourteen eels long.  
  
It had always seemed strange to me that my hair was this long. Agrona's hair fell only to her waist when let down, but was perpetually in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She had always said that my hair needed to be long so that she could climb up the tower to bring me my food. I supposed this was true. There were horrible beasts that infested the countryside that could harm me if I was not protected in my tower. Agrona had told me terrible stories of creatures that were tall and strong, whose favorite delicacy was the flesh of women. She told me they were called...men. Fabulous beasts who lured women to their deaths. It was a nightmare of mine that one of these hairy giants would find a way into my tower and hurt me.  
  
I dressed and made my bed. I was not necessarily an orderly woman, but having hours upon hours of freedom the boredom drove me to clean everything in sight. Agrona had praised me for my cleanliness, but in truth it was simply that I had nothing else to do. Having straitened the sheets and fluffed the pillows twice I returned to my window and scanned the ground, some fifty feet below, for signs of Agrona's arrival. She was not to be found. Sighing, examined my bookshelves, hoping that by some magic a new title would appear that had not been there the day before...or the day before that...or the day before that.  
  
Still Agrona did not come. I repositioned cushions on a sofa and straitened the fringe on my large carpet. Nothing. A painting appeared crooked and I spent a few minutes hanging and rehanging it. She did not come. Finally, as I had begun to pace back and forth I heard a sing-songish cry, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb without a stair!"  
  
I rushed to the window and unwound my braid from my head and tied it to the hook outside the glass. Agrona slung a basket over her arm and began to climb. Her weight did not hurt my tender scalp anymore. Over the years I had become used to her bulk and I no longer felt the pain as she scaled the tower walls.  
  
Agrona grasped the ledge and I clutched her arms to pull her through the frame. At last she fell inwards and I unhooked my braid.  
  
Agrona groaned and got to her feet, "I am getting so old Rapunzel. Bring me a cup of water." Water was the only edible substance I possessed in my tower. Being the witch she was Agrona had special knowledge of a system of metal cylinders that magically brought water to and from my tower room.  
  
I brought her a glass of water and knelt to help her drink. A few moments later when she had revived, Agrona rose and handed me her basket.  
  
"I have already eaten my breakfast Rapunzel, but I have brought you your meals for today."  
  
"Thank you Agrona." I took the basket and removed an apple and buttered roll that had been wrapped in paper.  
  
Agrona sank into an arm chair and patted the floor for me to come sit by her. I obliged and laid my hair upon her lap as was custom for her to braid my hair as I ate. This was our daily ritual. It always seemed strange to me, but when Agrona arrived in the mornings she was always tired and, "felt old". After braiding my hair she seemed younger and more alert.  
  
"Did you sleep well Rapunzel?" she asked, undoing the ties at the end of my plait.  
  
"Yes Agrona."  
  
"No more nightmares?" I had been dreaming every night a dreadful nightmare. That had been going on for several weeks now. It was of a man, a frightful, monstrous creature who stole me from my safe tower and hauled me away.  
  
"Last night's wasn't too bad." I could feel her hands running through my hair. It was the most secure feeling I could have, the knowing that she was there protecting me.  
  
**Agrona's POV**  
  
The moment I touched Rapunzel's golden locks life began to flood back into me. A good ten years was lifted off my face, and I could breathe again.  
  
The nightmares Rapunzel had been having were not frightful news to me. I had planted the evil ideal of man into her mind in attempt to frighten her from wanting to leave the tower. Although it pained me to see her hurting, I knew it was better for the both of us that she remain here, under my protection.  
  
"Tell me about your dream Rapunzel," I urged as I detangled a few golden strands.  
  
The lids closed over her beautiful sky blue eyes and Rapunzel began her tale, "It was the same as it has been all nights before. It is night time and I am at my window singing. I hear your voice calling out to me and let down my hair for you to climb up, but when you finally step into the room...it's not you at all...it's a man. And he grabs me up and carries me away." She opened her eyes again and looked up at me, "I cried out to you, but you never came Agrona. It was so frightening!"  
  
I took the child's hand and said gently, "Don't worry Rapunzel, it was just a dream. No man can reach you up here, you are safe with me." She leaned her head on my knee and sighed contentedly. I resumed my work of plaiting her hair. It felt wonderful, like warm silk. Every strand was glowing with the magic of the rampion, and every minute I felt more alive.  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
When at last it was time for Agrona to leave, I wept bitterly. I hated being alone in this tower for hours on end. She was my protection, my guardian angel. So it was with a heavy heart that I kissed her and lowered my hair for her to descend.  
  
Watching her hobble away into the forest, I sighed and prayed that one-day I might follow her home. The pain was so intense that I could not find words for it and simply began...to sing. 


	6. That Till I Loved

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this fanfiction do not necessarily reflect the views of FairyGodMothers Inc.  
  
Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the enthusiastic responses! You guys are great! Keep it up!  
  
~~Chapter Six~~  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
"Christian!" my mother's voice reverberated through the stable hall. I could hear her and her entourage approaching. I was crouched down amongst the sweet smelling straw of the hayloft, trying not to make a sound. Ever since my eighteenth birthday my mother, Queen Rhainnian of Sonra, had been chasing after me with an assortment of princesses, trying to set me up with a wife. After sampling twenty or so of her mannered, finishing schooled princesses I was running for cover.  
  
"Christian! He's such a prankster! Christian!" She was nearing the doors. This was not a good situation. A hayloft is not the sort of place you want to be caught in, in a tight spot. There was no escape route. I scanned my options. I could not climb down the ladder, mother would surely see me. I could not climb out the roof...there was no window. I could not even stay put and hide as she would notice the ladder and find me up here and force me to spend hours upon hours listening to some textbook-sounding girl discuss her lineage.  
  
In desperation I looked to the ceiling. But there was nothing to help me there except the rafters...the rafters. Hurriedly I glanced down at the horse stalls searching for my stallion, Philip. He was without a saddle, but halter and rope were still on his head. This would be enough to ride with. Cautiously, trying not to disturb even the dust, I stepped out onto the wooden beams that supported the roof of the stables. I began to edge my way across the length of the stables, heel to toe, as quickly as I dared.  
  
I had trekked almost thirty yards and was only two stalls away from Philip, when mother's guards flung open the stable doors and I lost my footing. Falling, I grabbed out at a rope to break my fall and hung to it desperately, thirty feet above the ground...and my mother's head.  
  
"I just don't know where that boy's got to! I'm so sorry Princess Almira, you'll have to forgive him, he's still quite a boy at heart!" She was laughing nervously, trying to preserve a possible marriage contract. I began to sweat with the strain of clinging to the rope, and trying not to make a sound to attract the ensemble below me to my presence. The only trouble was, my nose was starting to itch.  
  
I held my breath, dangling over my mother and Princess Almira, rather aware of how ridiculous this scene must have looked, but concentrating solely on holding in my sneeze that threatened to burst forth.  
  
Princess Almira spoke with something of a nasal twang, "Do you know that I have the strangest feeling that I am being watched? Perhaps Prince Christian is nearer than we think."  
  
You have no idea.  
  
Her father agreed in a throaty voice. "Of course, he must be too shocked by your beauty to speak Almira, Darling."  
  
I suppose if you could call a donkey attractive it might apply.  
  
My nose's tickle was worsening. I bit my tongue to distract my mind but my brains weren't listening to me. Why wouldn't they leave?  
  
"I can't understand where he is, the Prince is usually hanging about in the sta—"  
  
The sneeze burst! Everyone looked up!  
  
"Christian! What on Earth are you—"  
  
I didn't have time to answer. I did the only thing I could think of. Without a moment's hesitation I swung my body forward and threw myself the ten feet through the air to Philip's back! Ladies were shrieking, guards were running towards me!  
  
I grabbed the halter rope and slapped Philip on the rear, "Goodbye ladies!" I called out as I jumped the fence and galloped away on Philip.  
  
I rode for a good fifteen minutes, until the adrenaline level of my escape had worn off, and I realized that I was riding through an area of the forest that I had not previously explored. Here the trees were taller, wider, older. The sunlight fell upon the pine needles, causing the forest floor to shimmer like a carpet of gold. I could hear the birds singing off in the distance...and then another voice...more beautiful than the larks.  
  
I turned around on Philip's back, searching for the source of the sound. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. It was a woman's singing, but a voice almost inhuman in its beauty. Surely no mortal could possess such a lovely voice. It was intoxicating.  
  
I gently goaded Philip to the left to search out the woman whose voice so captivated me. The horse himself, seemed entranced by the beautiful sound and followed the song almost instinctively. I doubt that I could have forced him to turn around had I even felt like it. I knew now what Odysseus felt like when he heard the sirens' call. I had to find the voice, should it cost me my life.  
  
We rode onward for a few more minutes until Philip stumbled into a clearing in the forest. Nearby there was an ancient watchtower from the Seven Years War that Sonra had raged against Gildred. It must have stood a good fifty feet high, and there at the top, in a glory Aphrodite could not touch, stood the angel I had been searching for.  
  
She had not seen us. We were hidden by the overhang of the surrounding trees. It took everything I had not to burst forth and scale the tower walls. But I feared that I might frighten the maiden, and although I cared not about frightening my mother's princesses, this was different. Perhaps it was merely that she had not been forced upon me by courtiers, but I like to think that I did not want to alarm her because I did, somewhere in the prankster, devil-may-care persona I had, still possess a kind and honorable nature.  
  
She was beautiful, with long golden hair (it trailed down her back so I could not see the full length), and pearly white teeth. God, she was glorious.  
  
As I marveled at her beauty, another thought crept into my mind, nibbling on the outer edges until I was forced to consider it...why was she here? And more importantly, how did she get up there? From my vantage point I could see no doors or ladders, or anything that would provide a person access to the tower room from which she sang. She almost appeared to be...a prisoner...but that was nonsense. All the prisoners of Sonra were humanely confined to dungeon cells. What in the hell was she doing out here?  
  
I jumped! A branch had snapped some yards behind me. Mother's guards were still following me. I have often wondered, now in years later, why I did not simply just wait for the guards to find me and have them remove the lovely girl from her prison without doors. Why I wasn't bold enough to do something at that moment. But for whatever the reason, I simply rode away, back to the castle, before mother's guards could find me.  
  
Later that evening, while I was supposed to be conversing with Princess Almira over supper, all I could think about was her. And that night, in my bed, I could not sleep. I could not wait for the next morning...when I would return to search for the maiden with the golden voice. 


	7. Angels and Monsters

DISCLAIMER: So then the Prince placed the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot...oh, wait, wrong fairy tale. Sorry. Uh...not mine.  
  
Author's Note: Thanks to Fyerio for reviewing, constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome.  
  
~~Chapter Seven~~  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
It was still dark outside when I rose from my bed the next morning. Knowing that my mother would be irritated by my, shall we say, obvious avoidance of Princess Almira yesterday, I wanted to flee the castle before she could snare me into a full day of courting the ugly princess with the most annoying nasal voice.  
  
I dressed quietly and stole down to the kitchens to make myself a few sandwiches. By the light of the moon I saddled Philip and rode off just as dawn's rosy fingertips skimmed the sky.  
  
As I entered the forest I realized that finding the tower again would be more difficult than I had anticipated. I picked my way slowly through. Recognizing a gnarled oak tree here, an unusual rock formation there, always careful to mark my path so as to find my way back home again. From time to time I would glance up at the rising sun, and by listening to the faint ringing of church bells could determine which direction I was traveling from the castle. As far as I could tell, I was heading due West.  
  
Some time later, it must have been about eight o'clock, I thought about my parents rising and going to find me in my room...and gave a chuckle when I imagined their astonished faces.  
  
**Rhainnon's POV**  
  
Around eight o'clock my husband, King Royce and I rose from our bed and I dressed hurriedly to find my son, Prince Christian. I sighed in exasperation as I buttoned my dress all wrong in my haste and remembered his little escape fiasco yesterday. My son, hanging from the rafters of a barn, while I was trying to find him to introduce a possible bride! And then, scaring us all out of our wits when he swung to his horse's back and rode off hollering at the top of his lungs!  
  
I shook my head, he was such a spirited boy, and despite all the grievances he caused me, I could not help by love him. After all, he did have a certain roguish charm about him that was absolutely endearing.  
  
My son was not meant for a quiet life. And having tried princess after princess I knew exactly what he needed, only it was the most obtuse paradox I had ever known. He needed someone to protect, who, at the same time, needed to have enough spirit in her that she would be able to match my son in his adventurous nature.  
  
The prophesy made at his birth still nagged at my mind. At first it had seemed to fit him, a wild and glorious life for him to lead...and then there was a part about a fall...and darkness, oh me. I wanted dearly to protect him, but if he kept up this tendency to disappear without notice I didn't know what I could do.  
  
At last I reached his bedroom door and gingerly knocked, "Christian?" No answer. "Christian, are you awake?" Still nothing. I opened the door slightly, "Darling, it's time to get up," I went to his bed and patted the bedclothes Christian lay beneath, "You are to meet the Princess...oh my Lord!" I pulled back the covers...all that was there were a few pillows patted to shape like a human body. Christian was gone.  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
At long last, I found the clearing I had been searching for, the old watch tower rising above the trees became my beacon. I was going to ride directly up to it and call out to the girl, but before I could expose myself, I noticed another person already at the foot of the stone turret.  
  
It was a little old woman, bent with age. She raised a gnarled hand to her mouth and called out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb without a stair!" And low and behold, a long golden wave of hair cascaded down from the tower window. I watched, entranced, as the elderly woman slung a basket over her shoulder and proceeded to climb up the tower by way of the girl's plait.  
  
'So that's how it's done!' I thought, and dismounted, and tied Philip to the nearest tree. I waited in the brush until I heard the woman climb back down again and hobble away. Then, saying a quick prayer that I would not fall and bust my skull, I ran out to the tower. I raised my voice as many octaves as possible and called out, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair, so I may climb without a stair!" Like magic, the golden braid fell, and taking it in hand, I began to scale the tower wall.  
  
I supposed it to be a good fifty feet, not terribly taxing on the body, but no mean feat either. When I at last managed to get a hold of the windowsill, I pulled myself through with all the energy I possessed! A woman's scream shook the walls, shattering the glass no doubt, and something collided with my head. Everything went black.  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
I will admit that it was a great oversight on my part to freely drop my braid whenever I heard the witch's call, to just assume that it was her crying out to me. But nothing could have prepared me for the creature that climbed into my room. It was a man! The moment I saw him I remembered my nightmare and I shrieked and pulled the largest book I owned off it's shelf and cracked it over his skull. In his unconscious state his hands gripped my braid and I had to pry him off before I could bind his hands and feet with a bit of rope and retreat to the far corner of my room. I suppose that the wisest thing to do would be to throw him out of the window, but he was much heavier than I, and I could never have accomplished that goal...especially when I knew the fall would kill him. I simply didn't have it in me to murder another in cold blood, even if it was a monster come to eat me.  
  
I cowered behind a rocking chair for a few minutes, watching him sleep. The first time he twitched, I gasped and dug my fingernails into the armrest. The monster opened his eyes and sat up. He stared at his bound wrists and ankles in astonishment before turning to look at me.  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
She had bound my wrists and ankles! That "angel" had knocked me unconscious and tied me within an inch of my life. She must have been enrolled in knight training as well, because I myself could not have tied a tighter knot. I struggled for a few moments with my binds and, giving up, glanced around the room for the beautiful girl who had so humiliated me. I was enraged, but the moment I laid eyes on her my anger vanished. She was beautiful. Far lovelier than any princess my mother had ever introduced me to...and she was crouching behind a rocking chair.  
  
Summoning what remained of my dignity, I grinned, "Excuse me miss, I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me out of these?"  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
The monster was speaking to me. I wasn't sure whether or not to respond. He wasn't speaking threateningly to me, but at the same time, Agrona had always warned me that men liked to seduce their victims before striking.  
  
"Who...and what...are you?"  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
Was she daft? "I am Prince Christian of Sonra...I am a man. And you, you who have stripped me of all my dignity, may I ask who you are?"  
  
Why she seemed so frightened of me I did not know. And while I was still rather perturbed at my current state, my fumes were beginning to fade as I watched her fearful movements. I felt almost sorry for her...which seemed ridicules as I was the one who had been knocked unconscious and was sitting here tied like a hog. Bloody hell, I came to rescue HER from this place and THIS what I get?  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
So he was a man. Strange, he didn't have the scaly tail, or sharp fangs I had always envisioned...he was almost...handsome. I shook my head, now I was loosing my mind. Men are not handsome. They are vile demons who feed upon the flesh of women. They are evil. But what of that concerned look the beast was giving me?  
  
"My name is Rapunzel. This is my tower, and what do you want from me?"  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
"I was passing through the forest and heard your singing. I have never heard a voice so lovely before and wanted to meet you...to take you away from this prison."  
  
A fresh wave of fear passed over her face again, and she shuddered. What in the hell was wrong with her?  
  
"Look I'm not going to hurt you. I'm sorry if I frightened you. Now could you please untie me so I can get to my feet and introduce myself to you properly?"  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
I debated over this for a few moments. "You won't eat me?"  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
"EAT YOU?!" I cried, perhaps a little louder than intended. What in blazes was wrong with her? "What do you mean, 'eat' you? Why on Earth would I do that?" I couldn't believe it...she honestly thought I wanted to cook her for my supper!  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
From the astonished look on his face I could tell that he was genuinely shocked by my question.  
  
"I just meant, well I was always told, that...that men enjoyed the taste of women, and that they would kill them for food."  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
"While I will admit to you that I have enjoyed the taste of many women's kisses, I will assure you that I have never eaten a woman for lunch."  
  
"Do you promise you won't eat me?"  
  
This was absurd! "Of course! Look," I found her sky blue eyes with mine, "I swear upon my honor as a..." I was going to say, 'man' but thought better of it, "on my honor as a prince, that no harm will come to you."  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
He seemed honest. Well I was just going to have to take my chances. I couldn't just leave him tied up on my floor forever could I?  
  
"All right, hold still." I crossed the room and began to untie his feet. When I had finished with those I undid his wrists and helped him to his feet, then backed quickly away from the prince.  
  
"You tie an excellent knot miss." He rubbed his wrists and winced.  
  
"It comes from tying my hair to the hook outside my window so many times. I've had lots of practice," I replied as I began winding my hair up into loops about my head so that it would not trail the floor.  
  
The prince looked at my quizzically, "Why is your hair so long? It seems rather a hindrance to keep it at such a length."  
  
"Well how else is my guardian to come bring me food everyday?"  
  
"Your guardian? You mean the little old woman I saw earlier?"  
  
"The one whose voice you imitated to deceive me?" The prince blushed and I continued, "Yes, her name is Agrona and she has cared for me as long as I can remember."  
  
Christian seemed confused, "But where are your parents? And why must you reside in a tower with neither doors nor stairs?"  
  
This seemed completely obvious to me but I did not want to be rude and answered his question, "I do not know of my parents. Agrona is unsure of their whereabouts as well, and I stay in this tower to protect myself from dangerous creatures such as yourself."  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
I wanted to laugh. She was a saucy bit of goods. "I'm not dangerous," I smiled, "Haven't you ever seen a man before?" I was joking, but when her face fell, the seriousness of the situation returned. "Haven't you?"  
  
"No."  
  
No? Was she serious? Had this young woman actually grown up hidden in a tower, believing that men were monsters who preyed upon the flesh of women? No wonder she was so frightened of me. I felt terrible. She must have been scared out of her wits. I was amazed that she had had the presence of mind to bash my skull with that bible, and to bind my hands and feet. She did not lack courage.  
  
"I'm sorry," I said quietly, and prayed that she would believe me. Her brilliant blue eyes were still widened in fear.  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
He was wrong, he was dangerous. That look he was giving me, as though he liked what he saw, was dangerous. And the warm shivers running down my back as I recalled the touch of his skin were dangerous. My eyes skimmed his face and body. Prince Christian was taller than I...not a difficult task to accomplish as I stood only just over five feet. He looked powerful with his muscle-toned chest and arms. Short, wavy, brown hair was accompanied by emerald green eyes. But they were kind eyes, not ablaze with hate as I had imagined them...but soft, gentle, and compassionate. Eyes that begged me to trust him.  
  
"It's all right," I said finally and gently smiled.  
  
Christian held out a hand to me and I hesitated only a moment before sliding mine into his. He bent low and gently brushed my fingers with his lips as he said, "Milady, I give you my word of honor, that as long as I live, no harm shall ever come to you." 


	8. Flying the Cage

DISCLAIMER: Heck, Brother's Grimm should be writing a disclaimer to ME.  
  
Author's Note: Ok, very important. I quite agree with my reviewers. The switching of POVs is distracting. I will try to be better about it. I did try to write this chapter in 3rd person, but it was just weird for me. Sorry! I just want to please my readers! By the way, Tranquill and singinstrawberri...you rock my world! You guys are awesome! And a BIG thank you to everyone else who reviewed! Keep it up! Reviews encourage me to write! I'm kind of falling a little behind on "Psychologist" so it may be awhile before I post again but I'll try to hurry. By the way, what would you guys think about me doing a "Little Mermaid" fanfic next? It's just a casual idea at the moment. Don't worry, we're only half way through this one.  
  
~~Chapter Eight~~  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
From then on, everyday after Agrona had left I would visit Rapunzel in her tower. I rose early each morning and rode the two or three miles to the clearing in the forest and waited for the old witch to leave. After a while my coming became so routine that Rapunzel simply left her hair down between Agrona's leaving and my coming so as to save time.  
  
I suppose my presence still frightened her a little. After all, one cannot wipe away a lifetime's worth of conditioning and fear in one afternoon. But it was getting better; she no longer cowered behind rocking chairs or asked me if I was going to eat her. Through conversations with her I learned that the poor girl had been having nightmares for weeks about men stealing her out of her tower.  
  
Her tower. Now there was a problem. Rapunzel's entire world revolved around this one room and the old witch who visited her once a day. And I had a shrewd idea that these fears were not coincidental. I had a sneaking suspicion that Rapunzel's "guardian", so she called herself, had been planting these ideas of monsters and peril into Rapunzel's head for years now. Why, I did not know, and it was bothering me. I resolved to show Rapunzel all the beautiful things in this world and erase her fears of life. It was finally, after a month of visiting her tower that I decided to remove her from it.  
  
I wasn't quite sure how I was going to accomplish this. The girl was so set in her belief that everything outside of her own little world was dangerous that I feared showing her other people would cause her to faint. I decided to take it slow. We would make several journeys and each time venture a little further away from the tower.  
  
It took a great deal of preparation for the outing. I had to find a bit of rope and weight to secure inside the tower so that we could get back inside. Then I had to draw up a schedule outlining the time we could be away, so that Agrona would not find out what we were up to.  
  
I do not know why I was so scared of Agrona, or why I felt I needed to keep my visits a secret from her. I suppose it was the fact that she was Rapunzel's captor that brought up my guard, but for whatever the reason, I sensed something evil about her, almost a nearness that I could not quite place...and it frightened me.  
  
Finally the day of our excursion came. I had specifically chosen a bright, sunny day in spring so as to present as little of a culture shock as possible for Rapunzel. I thought that rain and thunder might be a little much at first. I had planned everything perfectly. We would leave in the late morning and I would have her back in the tower well before dark. Then I would stop by a butcher's shop on the way home and bloody a few arrows so that I might tell my mother I had gone hunting. Everything was done...all I had to do now was convince my beautiful bird to fly her cage.  
  
I fled the palace early, to avoid my mother and any awkward questions she might ask. Saddling Philip, we rode out just as the sun was peaking over the mountain tops and in about a half an hour, had reached Rapunzel's tower.  
  
Agrona was just making her way back to her cottage when we rode up. I dismounted, tethered Philip to his usual tree and raced over to the dangling edges of Rapunzel's golden hair, and began to climb.  
  
As usual, Rapunzel took hold of my arms and pulled me in through her window.  
  
"That was fast, why did you climb so quickly? Something on your mind?" she asked playfully. I had never touched her in a romantic manner, or even said anything that might convey an interest in her other than what was completely platonic, but even still, she must have noticed the way I looked at her sometimes since she loved to hint that she knew what I was thinking. I was slightly amazed that she was so bold at first and could not imagine why she was, until I came to realize that she was starting to trust me. She knew that I would never violate her innocence and therefore could safely tease me as much as she wanted.  
  
She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it. Her hair was a glorious golden crown about her head. Her eyes were like the summer sky, lips a luscious coral pink and her skin as smooth as silk. As much as I tried to avoid it, I could not help but notice the lovely curve of her body, her slim waist, and impossibly long legs. God, she was gorgeous.  
  
Rapunzel reached down and lifted the rope handing from my belt to examine it. "Christian, what is this for?" The warm gaze that had radiated from her eyes only moments before was extinguished. She was a very intelligent girl, and probably knew even before I began to speak what I was going to propose.  
  
"I thought that today we might talk elsewhere."  
  
She backed away from me a little. Talking with Rapunzel was like playing a game of "Freeze". The object was to get as close to the person who was "It" as possible without being caught moving. With Rapunzel, it was the opposite. The object was to bring her nearer to me. Every time I proved myself honorable she would come a step nearer, but each time I frightened her, she would back away.  
  
Her beautiful blue eyes flashed as she said, trying to keep her voice steady, "Christian, I don't know where you want to go. This tower only has one room and there isn't really..."  
  
"You know I don't mean the tower Rapunzel, so quit playing around."  
  
"No! I can't leave!" she scooted behind a desk, placing it between herself and me.  
  
I sighed and stepped closer to her, "You're over reacting. I'm not suggesting that you leave forever. Just that we go out for a couple of hours. We won't go far. I promise that we will keep the tower in sight."  
  
**Rapunzels' POV**  
  
He had to be joking! I could not leave the tower! It wasn't safe out there, anything could happen!  
  
"Christian, I can't..." I stammered, "It's too dangerous..."  
  
A lock of hair fell onto his forehead and Christian absently brushed it out of the way. The gesture seemed almost arrogant. 'Well, that's what he is isn't he?' I said to myself. It was true. Prince Christian was a daredevil. A roguish boy who looked simply adorable with his assured swagger and his cocky, lopsided grin.  
  
He looked me directly in the eyes. "Rapunzel, do you remember the promise I made to you the first day I met you?"  
  
"Yes..." I knew where he was going with this.  
  
"I told you that I would never let anything harm you. Now do you believe that I meant that oath?"  
  
"Yes." What else could I say?  
  
"So why won't you go?" he smiled.  
  
I just stood there silently. He had done it again. He and his stupid flair for winning arguments that made him even more despicably charming. Damn his beautiful green eyes that made my insides melt.  
  
"Fine. I'll go." Christian reached across the desk and took my hand. For a moment we both stood there stunned. He had never touched me before, let alone take my hand. I doubted he had even planned that gesture. But it felt nice, much nicer than expected. From Agrona's stories and my nightmares I had always imagined that the touch of a man, no matter how chaste, would sicken me, instead...I felt...happy.  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
I had surprised myself when I had taken Rapunzel's hand, and I could tell from the expression on her face that she was amazed as well...but pleasantly so. I didn't know why she was having this effect on me. I had won kisses from many maids after only an evening in their presence and that had never shaken me. But here I was, visiting this girl everyday for a month now and I had only just now even touched her, and I was getting butterflies in my stomach.  
  
I pulled Rapunzel around the desk and secured my rope to one of her bedposts. Then I straddled the windowsill. "I'm guessing you don't know how to climb ropes right?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Well, it won't do any good to teach you from up here. We'll try this afternoon when we're safely on the ground. For now just put your arms around my neck."  
  
Rapunzel took a step and loosely put the tips of her fingers around the back of my neck. I laughed, and said, "You're going to have to hold on tighter than that!" I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her up against me, so that her arms now encircled my neck...and her face was only and inch away from mine. She seemed slightly startled at this movement but bit her lower lip and said, "Well, get on with it, we haven't got all day."  
  
"Ok," I sang as I quickly dropped out of the window. Rapunzel gasped and held on to me for dear life.  
  
"Christian, you devil, don't scare me like that!"  
  
I laughed and began to climb down. "Don't tell me I frightened you Rapunzel!" I cried out mockingly. She rolled her eyes and dug her fingernails into my back in fear. I don't think she meant to hurt me, but I knew that she was afraid and trying not to show it so I did not tease her about it.  
  
It took only a few minutes to reach the bottom of the rope, where Rapunzel quickly backed away from me and began to breathe deeply. The poor girl was still frightened. Well, we would fix that.  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
Christian was looking at me with concern. "Are you all right?" he asked.  
  
"Fine," I said quickly and backed up against the tower wall. The stones were warm from the morning sun. They were reassuring. I turned to look at Christian.  
  
"Well then, let's go." 


	9. A Summer's Day

DISCLAIMER: Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
Author's Note: To WatsonKate: Yes, Six Swans is a wonderful fairy tale. I have considered that one myself, perhaps later on I will attempt it for you. I seem to remember reading that somewhere in the pages of time but if not. I will read "Till We Have Faces".  
  
To Tranquill: You are such an awesome reviewer! Yes, I thought that staying in the tower the entire time would be rather boring. I am all but committed to Little Mermaid next, I just need to decide what version of the story to tell.  
  
To Maggy: Thank you for your encouraging review!  
  
To Teiger: No, have you ever heard the expression, "fly the coop"? Same thing. Perhaps it is not grammatically correct but it is a colloquial expression. And there is the fact that those words connotate a "fleeing prison" feel, which, though she doesn't know it yet, Rapunzel is doing. The prison is only brought litterally to life in the form of the tower. The real prison is created in Rapunzel's mind. Her fear controls her.  
  
To Fiyero: So far you are the only person who has picked up on the "healing tears", (well, at least that has written about it in her reviews). Good job. Trust me, if I start a fanfic, I will finish it.  
  
Here we go! Um, in all honesty, I'm not very proud of this chapter but it will get better! Please review!  
  
~~Chapter Nine~~  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
I knelt down and touched the grass. It didn't feel soft, like all the stories describe it...more like prickly, ticklish almost. Christian leaned down and picked up a small rock lying nearby.  
  
"Look, this is called Flint rock," he handed the stone to me. "If you have two pieces of this stone you can hit them together and make fire." I scanned the ground for another stone similar to the one I held in my hand and upon inspection, found the ground to be littered with them. I cautiously picked another off the ground and held a piece in each of my hands.  
  
"Hit them together," Christian urged.  
  
Slightly unsure of myself, I struck the two stones together...nothing happened. I tried again...still nothing. Finally I smashed the rocks a third time and let out a yelp and dropped the stones as a spark shot out at me!  
  
Christian tried to suppress a chuckle, "It's only a spark Rapunzel, it won't hurt you."  
  
Even still, it had been the most amazing of experiences...I had made fire. I had hardly gone two steps into the world, and I had made fire! I expressed my pleasure to Christian and he smiled.  
  
"Come on, let's go." He took my hand and led me across the clearing and into the forest. As I passed into the trees I felt a small shiver run through my veins. At first I wasn't sure why I was so unnerved, and then it hit me...I was standing beneath the trees. In my tower I had always looked down upon the treetops and now...they were looking down upon me.  
  
It was the most beautiful sanctuary, this forest. The trees almost seemed to whisper amongst themselves and their leaves cast flickering shadows that dappled the ground and turned the pine needles into a shimmering gold.  
  
I had to stop and examine everything. Tree bark was so rough to the skin. And it pulled away! Imagine, an organism whose protective covering peels away! Christian told me not to strip away too much bark however, as it might harm the tree. He even showed me one standing timber called a Cedar, which smelled so nice, like...well, if time had a smell, it would be Cedar. It smelled so lovely here, like rain and earth and a thousand different perfumes from a thousand different flowers.  
  
As we walked along Christian suddenly sank to the floor and bent over. "What is it?" I asked, concerned.  
  
"It's a daffodil Rapunzel," he gently lowered me to the springy earth. And so there it was, a daffodil, looking exactly like the daffodils in my books, except...this one was so much more alive. I reached a hand out to touch it and gently fingered it's petals. They were soft and moist. You could see the tiny veins running through the colored leaves. I bent to smell it...and screamed! Some wretched flying thing blasted, enraged, from the flower and flew strait for my face! I swatted at it to make it go away, but it stung me!  
  
Christian threw some soil at the creature to make it fly away and then pulled me close to him. Crying, I sobbed, "What was that thing?"  
  
"Shh...shh...it was only a bee. Hush, now," he wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back. "Where did it sting you?"  
  
My eyes filled with tears, I lifted my hand, where a red welt was already forming, and allowed Christian to examine it. In truth it didn't hurt too terribly, although it certainly wasn't pleasant, it was really more the shock of that bee flying out at me that had me upset.  
  
Christian took my hand and gently rubbed it, searching for any irregularities other than the welt. He traced his fingers across the red spot and, taking a knife from his pocket, scraped the top. After a moment, a tiny stinger emerged and some of the pain dissipated.  
  
I tried to compose myself. Goodness, crying over a bee sting, I was so foolish. "What did you do?"  
  
"I took out the bee's stinger. You see, when a bee stings you it leaves it's stinger behind in the skin. However, you cannot just pull it out as that would rupture a pocket of venom left on the stinger and it would hurt even more, that's why I had to scrape it with my knife." Christian pocketed his knife and continued, "Of course, on the bright side, the bee dies a few hours after it stings you so your hand is avenged." He grinned.  
  
"It still hurts though," I said quietly, not wishing to sound complaining, but nevertheless, experiencing unprecedented pain.  
  
Christian smiled softly and brought my hand to his lips, and gently kissed the injury. His lips felt light and soft against my tingling skin. For a moment my stomach seemed to flutter and I found it difficult to breathe...I forgot the pain.  
  
Christian felt around on the ground for a moment saying, "Now we do need to bandage this..."  
  
I squeezed my eyes shut, remembering the touch of his lips, and as I did, a single tear slid down my cheek and dropped onto my hand...on to the injury.  
  
The red spot seemed to burn like fire the moment the saline drop made contact with it. I gasped and Christian turned to look at me, "Rapunzel, what...oh my God..."  
  
The welt had vanished. The place where it had been was still tingling with warmth, but the very last of the red was dissipating and quite quickly, my hand had healed.  
  
Christian looked up at me, "Rapunzel, what just happened?"  
  
I shook my head, "I don't know. One of my tears touched the wound...and it healed. I can't explain it."  
  
"I think," he said calmly, "That we can safely assume that you are not fully human."  
  
~~****~~  
  
Walking back to the tower later that afternoon Christian said, "So you have no memory of your parents?"  
  
"None, Agrona claims she doesn't know either."  
  
He eyed me intently, "Rapunzel, something about you is special. Look at you, your unnaturally long hair, your tears have healing powers...somewhere in you is magical blood."  
  
This was a little frightening to me, but I kept my face serene. I did not wish to show him my fear. "Who knows Christian? I was raised by I witch, perhaps that had something to do with it."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
We emerged into the clearing and I gave a start, "Oh goodness, Christian is that a horse?" A great animal wearing a saddle and bridal was tied loosly to a nearby tree, nibbling at some oats left in a bag at his mouth.  
  
"Yes, it is. His name is Philip, he's my loyal steed."  
  
**Christian's POV**  
  
"Would you like to meet him?" I asked Rapunzel, watching the look of intense curiosity and delight cross her face.  
  
"Oh yes!"  
  
I led her to Philip and held his bridal to keep him steady as she caressed his brown coat. "He's beautiful."  
  
"So are you." I blushed a little as I said this. I felt a little stupid. These words I had declared to scores of women before, sometimes true, sometimes not, but I had never felt so vulnerable as I did now.  
  
Rapunzel herself seemed to turn a little rosy and lowered her face, smiling. "Thank you," she said, entwining her fingers into Philip's mane.  
  
"You know, I've never seen a real horse before."  
  
"You're kidding!" I cried.  
  
"No, I've read about them a lot. I was always very interested in them, but I have never actually seen one."  
  
"Well would you like to go for a ride?"  
  
Rapunzel thought about this for a moment, and glanced upwards at Philip and asked, "How tall is he?"  
  
"Seventeen hands, that's—"  
  
"Sixty eight inches, I know." She paused as I stared, blinking at her in amazement. "Good heavens, seventeen hands." She turned to me, "You have a very large horse Christian."  
  
"But he's gentle. Don't worry."  
  
"I think I would rather ride him another day when I am more used to the idea if you don't mind," she said, finally making up her mind.  
  
"This was a lovely day Christian, thank you so much for bringing me to the forest." And she stood on tiptoes, and kissed my cheek. 


	10. A Lesson In Empathy

DISCLAIMER: Why do I bother?  
  
Author's Note: Once again, thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! By the way, Fyerio, I'm not sure if I apologized in a previous chapter, but I am so sorry...for some reason I just naturally assumed...I don't know. Sorry. *deep Japanese bow*  
  
And I appologize to everyone for the long delay in posting. I wanted this chapter to be better than the last...and I think it is! Please review and tell me what you think! PLEASE!!!!!!!  
  
~~Chapter Ten~~  
  
**Rapunzel's POV**  
  
Christian and I began to make almost daily trips to the forest. The weather had been of a balmy, late spring sort, and I was thoroughly enjoying my time out of doors. My naturally inquisitive nature was blossoming as I began to explore all of my surroundings. No plant nor beast was safe from my scrutiny. I treasured the song of the birds and relished in the soft caress of a fawn's coat. Each day we stayed away a little longer and strayed a little farther from my tower.  
  
At first I was frightened of even the smallest creature, and though I was still unsure of myself I tried to be brave for Christian. He wanted so badly to show me his world and to help me to love it that I couldn't help but try things for his sake.  
  
I must admit though, that I had begun to pull away from him a bit. Our first day out I had surprised myself by kissing him on the cheek, and now felt extraordinarily foolish for it. Perhaps he had not wanted me to kiss his jaw, maybe it was not a natural thing for a lady to do...or maybe I was just scared.  
  
Of all the beasts I had met in the forest, the only one who threatened me was him. Christian was beginning to take a hold of my heart and I was afraid. I feared that he would hurt me, that he would forget me. That someday he would simply not come. That I would wait for hours upon hours, my braids dangling in the breeze and that Prince Christian would utterly lose interest and never return. That I would be trapped, with no way to climb down and find him. I was frightened because I needed him. I needed his shimmering emerald eyes, his kind smile, his reassuring voice. I needed his carefree laughter to pull me out of my shell. I craved the way he freed my mind with his ideas and learning, the way he spoke and listened to me speak. Everything about him seemed to allow me to become all that I held inside of me. He was wonderful. Even the warm touch of his skin was addicting.  
  
I tried to refrain from displaying my ignorance of the world to Christian, but everything was just so new and exciting that I simply had to be a part of it and couldn't help but throw myself into it, sometimes rather foolishly I admit. My fear of the world, which had so previously seemed so rational and logical now began to seem foolish and it seemed that the only way to conquer it was to meet my nemesis head on. I countered my inner fright by rushing headlong into things and placing a simple, childlike trust in Christian, that he would protect me.  
  
It was so strange to look up at my turret from the ground. On the inside it had always seemed so immense, and now, seeing it from an objective viewpoint, I realized that my tower was actually rather small. It was hard to believe that I had lived twelve years there and had never set foot upon the mossy floor of the woods until now. I could feel something new being born inside of me. A lust for life, a fire which, once kindled, I knew would never be extinguished.  
  
"Today's the day!" Christian sang as he walked towards me, guiding Philip by the bridal. "Today, you learn to ride."  
  
For a moment an icy fear shot through me. The creature was huge! Enormous! How could he possibly expect me to climb up on that thing?!  
  
"Are you sure?" I began, trying to talk my way out of this, "I mean, after all, I don't know the slightest thing about horses and..."  
  
"You've read about them haven't you?"  
  
"Well, yes, but..."  
  
"So what's the problem then...are you scared?" His eyes flashed a mischievous glint.  
  
I wasn't going to have any of that! "Of course not!" I stepped forward and took hold of the saddle, "This is child's play."  
  
"Let's see you do it then," he smiled, and stood back to watch me mount.  
  
I returned to Philip. Gripping the edges of the saddle I jumped...and fell. I stole a sideways glance at Christian...he was suppressing laughter. I stood back to examine this seating apparatus upon Philip's back and after a few moments analysis came to the conclusion that I would have to use the stirrups to mount.  
  
Again, I tried. This time I did manage to get up on to the saddle...but I was lying flat on my stomach. I could not see Christian, but I could hear his laughter.  
  
"Would you like some help Rapunzel?" he chortled. Damn his handsome hide. Well, not to worry, I would fix him later.  
  
With as much dignity as I could muster I replied, "Perhaps you could be of some assistance to me."  
  
Christian tied Philip to the nearest tree and walked around the back of me, taking his nice sweet time. He took hold of my waist and said, stifling his laughter, "Ok, now just let go, and I'll lift you to the ground."  
  
I did as he bade, and Prince Christian set me again on solid ground and walked me around to Philip's other side. "All right," he grinned, "Let's try this again...on the near side."  
  
Now I felt foolish. I had completely forgotten that one must mount a horse on it's near...or left side. "Grab the saddle." I took hold of it once more. "Now place your left foot in this stirrup." I edged my foot into the leather holster, a slightly difficult task as my skirts tended to get in the way. "Now, when I say 'go' I want you to jump up and swing your right leg over Philip's hind quarters to the other side."  
  
"Wait a minute?" I was confused, "Isn't that how a man rides?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"So shouldn't I be riding side saddle?"  
  
Christian gave me a withering glance, "Absolutely not."  
  
Slightly perturbed I replied, "Why not? From what I understand all ladies do."  
  
"Because 'all the ladies' at court are witless milksops who do nothing more atop their horses than pose prettily to catch a courtier's eye. If you're going to learn to ride, you are going to learn properly." His voice was so stern and grim over a small matter of riding sidesaddle that it was simply ridicules. I bit my tongue to hold back my laughter as I mounted Philip and took the reigns from Christian's hand.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing. It's just that it was such a simple question and yet you took it so seriously."  
  
He frowned, "For a woman you are certainly audacious."  
  
"And you are rather roguish for a prince."  
  
"Are you insulting me?" he asked, taken aback.  
  
I smiled sweetly, wishing to keep the upper hand in this debate, "Heavens no! I'm a lady remember?"  
  
Christian shook his head and swung himself up behind me. I was startled, but Philip did not seem to mind. "Not like any lady I've ever met."  
  
I replied, "I'll take that as a compliment," as I nervously stroked Philip's neck.  
  
I could not see his face, but judging from the way his chest was twitching at my back he was laughing. Christian gently eased his arms around me and took my hands. For the first time I realized how large they were.  
  
He twisted his wrists and fingers to reform mine around the strips of leather. "Ok, Rapunzel, hold them just like this. Keep your elbows in."  
  
"Like this?" I asked, shifting my arms.  
  
I suppose he could not see very well for my hair that blew in his face in the breeze and Christian leaned forward so that I could feel his breath, warm on my neck, when he spoke. "No, no...hold them here." He gently hugged my torso to reposition my arms and squeezed my shoulders when I had it right. "There you go."  
  
"Now, you have your feet in the stirrups, that's good..."  
  
"I do know THAT much Christian."  
  
He shrugged and continued, "Fine. Now keep your heels down and knees in towards the horse."  
  
I attempted to do as he bade but found it rather difficult to remain in this position. "Um, Christian, I don't know if I can..."  
  
"You'll get used to it. It's hard for everyone at first, you've just got to try. After a while your leg muscles will become strong enough."  
  
Smelling a hint of rain on the air I glanced upward to the sky, which was beginning to resemble the foam of a witch's brew. "We may be in for a storm," I said apprehensively.  
  
Christian gently goaded Philip into a walk, "It is not meant for us." 


	11. Riding Through Rain

DISCLAIMER: This is utterly ridiculous.  
  
Author's Note: For those of you who have not read my latest chapter of Once Upon A Psychologist: my computer (with all my files I might add) crashed. No, crashed is not the word...it went out in a Blaze of Glory. The guy at the shop said it was, "Really screwed up." So that is my excuse for not posting lately. I'll jump right back in and it'll be just like old times, I promise. For the next week I'm on a different computer until mine is ready. Then I'll start seriously writing. Please forgive me!!!!!!! NOW GO REVIEW!!!!!!  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
The ride began slowly. Philip clip-clopped along at a nice steady pace while I became used to sitting atop a horse. It is quite an interesting experience, I can tell you. This giant beast beneath you with muscles twitching and knowing that he has the power to flip you off at any moment. It's enough to send shivers down one's back.  
  
Yet he was so beautiful. I kept glancing downwards to see his tail and legs and warm brown eyes so often that Christian became rather tired of correcting my posture.  
  
Although it was nearly noon, the day could have passed for evening. The caliginous clouds brooded heavily over the land and hid the sun from view. Trees were beginning to whisper amongst themselves as the hollow wind blew through them like a giant's breath as he is awoken from a hundred-year sleep. It was all too quiet. I suddenly felt very small and insecure being out with the sky brewing as it were.  
  
Philip seemed to feel the same way. The horse's ears were twitching nervously from side to side and he occasionally whinnied a bit as thought incredulous that we were going to continue through this weather.  
  
Christian did not seem to be in a talkative disposition anymore. His pensive nature revealed it's self occasionally in this sort of mood. He seemed to be in deep thought and though I hated to interrupt his thinking light drops of rain were beginning to fall upon me.  
  
"Christian?" I asked timidly.  
  
"Yes?" he answered, not fully aware that I was speaking yet.  
  
"Christian, should we be heading back? I think a storm is coming and I don't imagine we want to be caught out in it."  
  
He shook his head as thought trying to clear away the cobwebs of thoughts and replied, "Damn, it sure came upon us quickly didn't it?"  
  
"Yes, it did."  
  
He tilted his face heavenward and squinted into the leaden sky, then turned around to see how far we had come.  
  
"We can't turn around now. The storm's too close and the tower is too far."  
  
"What are we going to do?" my voice shook as I tried to keep my nerves steady.  
  
Christian quickly glanced around through the trees and then said, "Here, give me the reigns. I have an idea."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well, it's not the best plan in the world, but it'll have to do."  
  
I elbowed him in the ribs. "Are you going to tell me where we're going or not?"  
  
He grimaced and twisted the leather strips of bridle out of my fingers. "Trees aren't exactly the best things to stand beneath during a lighting storm, but there's not any man-made shelter and we certainly can't stay out here in the meadow."  
  
"So..."  
  
"So, I know of a place in the forest where the trees aren't too tall, and they grow so close together that even when it's raining no water can pass through the canopy."  
  
"Great," I muttered sarcastically.  
  
"Oh hush, it's the best we can do."  
  
"I knew you'd get me killed someday. Guess now's as good a time as any. Let's go." I nudged him impatiently. If we were going to be electrocuted then better get it over with.  
  
"Hold on to the saddle," Christian said and as I took hold he slipped the reigns into his right hand and slid his left arm around me. "Uh, sorry," he said stiffly, "But I need to hold you still."  
  
"What do you think I'm going to do, jump off the horse?"  
  
"Fall off."  
  
"We've been riding for a good hour now and I haven't fallen yet." Of course, come to think of it I didn't really mind his arm right where it was.  
  
Christian rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sight. I started to open my mouth to continue arguing when that idiot Prince kicked Philip and he sped off into a full gallop.  
  
I bit my lip to keep from screaming and closed my eyes so as not to see our deaths when that boy and his horse killed us all.  
  
"Christian! The trees, the trees!"  
  
Christian's POV  
  
"Rapunzel hold still!" I cried and tried to pin her arms down. The crazed girl was going to get us both killed! Couldn't she see that I knew what I was doing? I had been dodging through trees on horseback for most of my life and was quite accomplished at it thank you very much.  
  
As we neared the grove I slowed Philip and dismounted. Rapunzel sat frozen atop the horse breathing heavily and shaking slightly.  
  
"Rapunzel?" I didn't like the way she was looking...almost sick. The last thing I wanted was for her to be scared to death. I decided to make her mad.  
  
"Ok, you can wake up sometime this century."  
  
She went rigid and then turned to face me, her eyes flashing. "Why you wretch! You nearly killed us!"  
  
She was fine. I grinned and began to tie Philip's bridal to the nearest oak tree. "You're the one who nearly got us killed waving your arms about. I had things under control."  
  
She gave me a look of pure disgust and crossed her arms.  
  
"So, are you getting down or not?"  
  
A small snort was the only response I received.  
  
I couldn't help it. I had to push her just a little further. "So anytime this century would be fine."  
  
She was looking down now and her eyes weren't so angry anymore. Her lips quivered slightly and a soft whisper floated to my ears across a cool breeze.  
  
"I'm sorry, what was that?"  
  
"I don't know how to get down."  
  
"Oh, here...sorry...swing your right leg over Philip's rear."  
  
She did and paused. I firmly took hold of her by the waist and continued, "Ok, I've got you, just let go of the saddle and drop."  
  
She did as I bade and when she was on the solid ground instead of backing away hurriedly as I had expected, Rapunzel turned and wrapped her arms around my neck. She buried her face into my chest and I could feel her body trembling. She was trying not to cry.  
  
"Shh...shh..." I whispered, now fully realizing that I was a jerk. She had been scared to death and there I was tormenting her. Gosh, sometimes I can be a real idiot.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
She nodded and pulled back a little. "I'm sorry, I'm all right now. I just had to get it out." Rapunzel wiped her cheeks with her fingers and sniffed a little. "There, I'm fine now."  
  
I smiled and took her hand, "Ok, let's go." 


	12. Weathering the Tempest

DISCLAIMER: It's mine, ALL mine!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!  
  
Author's Note: Thanks to ALL of my reviewers! It really makes me happy to receive reviews (critical or otherwise) and encourages me to write more and better! To singinstrawberri: I really appreciate your reviews in particular. Please don't stop!  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
The inner forest was dark and cool. The mossy floor was carpeted with red, gold and green leaves, shades and patterns far more brilliant than any exotic rugs from the orient. Our feet made soft shuffling noises as we moved about, stepping quietly, so as not to disturb the sleeping forces that had permitted us sanctuary amongst the timber.  
  
Oak trees, yards thick, seemed older than time and I felt that if I listened closely, that I might hear the words of some forgotten language they were whispering amongst themselves, concerning our intrusion. It was a strange sensation, this feeling of being watched, whispered about, and I couldn't help but shiver a little as I glanced upwards into the place where the branches and darkness mixed together into and indistinguishable pattern and became one.  
  
All around us were the sounds of the falling rain and their quiet pitter- patter, coupled with the occasional rumble of thunder. But they were far removed from this place, and within these walls of trees we could not be touched by the devil of a storm that raged on outside.  
  
Christian settled himself on the ground and tugged my hand a little to bring me to the forest floor with him. As he did, the air about us dazzled a bit from a flash of lightening and the deep growl of a thunderclap was heard high above the ceiling of our sanctum. I snuggled a bit closer to Christian and allowed him to wrap his warm arms around me, as though warding off the tempest.  
  
"Christian?" I asked quietly.  
  
"Yes, Rapunzel?"  
  
"Tell me about your parents."  
  
Christian paused for a moment and then said, "Why do you want to know about them?"  
  
"Every day we go walking through the meadow and you show me the beautiful things Mother Nature has created. You know so much and always have something to remark...but for all your talk...all your knowledge of the world that you have given me...you have never spoken of your family."  
  
Christian's POV  
  
"There isn't much to say. I have a mother and a father. They love me I suppose...I don't know...they're just kind of ...there, I guess. Really I just try to stay out of the castle as much as possible."  
  
"Why? Don't you want to be with them?"  
  
I frowned a little. What kind of stupid question was that?  
  
"Well, they're my parents, you know..."  
  
"Actually, I wouldn't."  
  
Oops.  
  
"Oh," I stuttered, "I-I forgot. I'm sorry."  
  
Rapunzel shrugged and flicked at a pebble. "It's no big deal. It just seems that you would want to be with them, that's all. It must be nice having them in your home, whenever you want them."  
  
Now I really felt bad. Another rumble of thunder shook the treetops and Rapunzel shivered in my arms. Actually thinking about it...what humans had the girl ever known except Agrona and myself? She lived alone in her tower with only her lovely singing voice for company.  
  
"My father is a good man. He is a just king and loves his people."  
  
"What is his name?"  
  
"Edric. My mother is the more talkative of the two. She's also sort of overprotective."  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
"Well," I said slowly, "When I was born, well...it was a difficult birth. You see my mother has always been a rather petite woman. My father's counselors were actually very concerned that because of her size that she might never bear a child. That's why I am named 'Christian'. My mother bestowed that name upon my because of the faith that brought her through my birth."  
  
"When were you born?"  
  
"The fifth of June, seventeen years ago."  
  
Rapunzel turned her head and gave me a quizzical look. "Strange, that's my birthday too. How peculiar."  
  
"Odd."  
  
We stared at each other for a minute and then she continued, "And what is your mother called?"  
  
"Rhainnon."  
  
"But if your parents are good people...why do you never speak of your home?"  
  
She was a persistent little thing. "Look, it's not as great as it seems. I mean, yes, my parents are wonderful people but they do have a kingdom to manage. And part of that responsibility is to keep the monarchy alive and running. Sadly enough, my being an only child has them worried about continuing generations. They are scared stiff that something's going to happen to me and the monarchy will die. So now they're after me to get married, and at the moment the bride they have picked out is a preening princess who looks like a donkey and speaks with a nasal twang. I can't stand her."  
  
Rapunzel looked uncomfortable and glanced away. "I'm sorry."  
  
I sighed and gave her a squeeze. "It's not your fault."  
  
"Well," she chuckled halfheartedly, "We're both in a fix. I have the opposite problem. Agrona's dead set against my marrying anybody."  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
Christian smiled a bit and then asked, "Does she, uh, suspect anything about us?" he faltered, "I mean, about us...meeting...out here?" He looked slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"No, I don't think so."  
  
"Good."  
  
Suddenly I sat up. Something was wrong.  
  
"What is is?" Christian asked.  
  
I couldn't tell precisely...it was so quiet that...quiet. The sound of rain was gone. "I think it has stopped raining."  
  
Christian stood and held out his hands to help me up. He tilted his face towards the canopy and listened. "I think you're right."  
  
"Can we go then?"  
  
"Yes. Besides, I have something to show you."  
  
Christian reached out to untie Philip from the oak tree, and I dusted my skirts off. "What is it?"  
  
Swinging himself up onto the horse Christian said, "You'll have to wait and see. It's a surprise."  
  
I gave an exasperated sigh and he held out a hand to help my up onto Philip's back. Once safely secure we turned around and began to trek into the light. 


	13. A Humble Maiden

DISCLAIMER: You know the drill.  
  
Author's Note: 1.) If you have any questions about the names of my characters, please feel free to visit www.behindthename.com for more information. I do NOT make up names. Each name I give my characters is chosen for a specific reason in accordance with its national origin and meaning. (ie: FRITJOF  
  
Usage: Scandinavian  
  
From the Old Norse name friðþjófr meaning "thief of peace", derived from the elements friðr "peace" and þjófr "thief". ) Fritjof, father of Rapunzel, stole the rampion...thus he is a thief and his sin brings about this story. However, he stole only to protect those he loved and did it in a peaceful, even sorrowful manner. 2.) Rampion is the plant that, according to the Grimm's fairytale, Rapunzel's father stole from the witch. "Rapunzel" is just another name for rampion. Rampion is very similar to watercress. (I think they are in the same family if not genus.) Oh, and to SnazyPiranah: Because she could not have the control she needed. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask! (  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
The ride out of the forest was much more pleasant this time. Christian made it a point to keep Philip to a slow trot as we weaved in and out of the trees. Every so often he would raise an arm to point out a particulary interesting bit of flora or fauna to me, and I, of course, being the curious creature I am would ask hundreds of questions about each and every creature we sighted.  
  
At last we emerged from the forest and I beseeched Christian to stop for a moment.  
  
"Chrisitan, what's wrong with this earth? There is very little grass, and the soil is yellow."  
  
"It's called sand, Rapunzel."  
  
I twisted around in the saddle to get a good look at him. "Sand?" I repeated, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
Christian sighed a little. "Ok, how do I explain this...sand is basically just miniscule bits of rock all crumbled up."  
  
"Well, why is there so much of it here?" and then I paused, "Is this the surprise?"  
  
"You'll see in a minute!" he leaned back his head and laughed. "Patience Rapunzel, patience!"  
  
Above us the somber clouds were beginning to break apart and disipate, allowing the resplendent sun to fight his way through and shine his brilliant face upon us as we relished in the sweet serinity his lustor brought us.  
  
Christian twisted in his seat, craning his neck, as though looking for something. "Yes, this is the way."  
  
"Way to where?" I questioned.  
  
Christian gave my hair a slight tug, "To the surprise you goose!"  
  
Well if he could toy with my hair...I quickly gave a sharp snap of my head, sending my hanging loops of hair flying...and smacking Christian across the face.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!" he rubbed his cheek and shot me a look of vexation.  
  
I batted my eyelashes at him and replied sweetly, "What? Has something struck you?"  
  
"Women," he muttered, and flicked the reigns, sending Philip back into a trot.  
  
----------- Far to the West, the blazing sun was beginning to lower it's self into mid afternoon. It appeared to be a fair ride to wherever we were headed. Every so often, Christian would peer through the scattered trees and say, "Not yet, not yet." I would, in turn, inquire as to what he meant, and he would ignore me like the exaperating boy he was.  
  
And then at last, after almost an hour's ride, Christian turned Philip to the West and we began to emerge from the trees. In front of us, the grass grew less and less, until the earth was nothing but sand, and we seemed to be moving slightly up hill. I could tell that there was some kind of ledge in front of us, but what lay beyond us I could not see.  
  
When I put the question to Christian, he shushed me for the thousandth time and whispered quietly, "Listen. What do you hear?"  
  
I gave his grinning face a curious look and cocked my head to hear better. "It seems to be almost a roaring sound...maybe crashing...I'm not sure."  
  
He smiled and Philip stroad the last few steps to the brink of the ledge...and stopped.  
  
There, in front of us...lay the ocean. Vast, blue, and shimmering in the afternoon sun. I drew an inward breath and couldn't seem to get it to leave my throat again. The deep azure waters stretched out as far as the eye could see...to the very ends of the earth where the horizon was so blue that you could not tell where the sea ended and the sky began.  
  
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Christian whispered.  
  
I could not seem to find the words to describe it and simply nodded my head. The young man at my back seemed to understand.  
  
He goaded Philip forward and we eased our way down the sand dune onto the shore where Christian dismounted and held out a hand to me. I took it and descended onto this new terrain.  
  
The sand had a strange texture to it. Almost like salt...only brown and more coarse. And it was warm. At first my steps on this new turf were unsure. The granuels shifted at the slightest disturbence, and my footsteps sank slightly into the ground. Christian watched me silently, with a small smile playing across his lips. And when at last I began to become assured that I was not going to sink forever into this ground he took my hand and began to lead me to the water.  
  
"Oh, I forgot...it would be best if you took off your shoes and your..." Christian stopped short and I saw his face flush. "Your um...your...uh...dress," he finished quietly, his eyes downcast and face the color of a wild strawberry.  
  
Christian's POV  
  
"My dress?" Rapunzel replied in a slighly indignate voice.  
  
"Well, the one you are wearing, once it gets soaked in the water...it will become quite heavy and could place you in peril should the undercurrent get a hold of you...you can keep your underclothes on!" I finished in a hurried voice, trying to reassure me that her that I had no perverse intent.  
  
Rapunzel kept quite still and eyed me suspiciously.  
  
"It really is for your safety. I promise I don't mean anything by it. Look, I'm going to have to remove my outer garments as well, so you won't be the only one embarassed."  
  
"I wasn't worried about embarassment!"  
  
Great job Christian.  
  
I buried my face in my hands. Somehow, whenever I was around this girl I managed to make a complete and utter idiot out of myself.  
  
Finally I sighed, "Rapunzel...have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"  
  
She did that little cocking of the eyebrows again, looking at me as though I were an imbecile and said, "You mean besides impersonating my guardian's voice, deceptivly entering my tower, and invading my privacy?"  
  
"Rapunzel..."  
  
"Okay, okay...but would you please turn around?"  
  
"Why? I'm going to see you in your petticoats anyway."  
  
She shot me a look and I decided not to argue and turned my back.  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
I have got to be insane, I thought as I began to remove my shoes and outer garmets. True I wasn't naked, my petticoats provided generous coverage...but the material was so thin and my shoulders...oh well. As much as I teased Christian...I did trust him. And who else was here to see us?  
  
When I had finished I folded my clothes and laid them on the beach and turned to face Christian...who was naked from the waist up. Oh my...what have I gotten myself into?  
  
He smiled and took my hand, "Let's go."  
  
---------- The waves splashed up at my feet and soaked the hem of my skirt. They were cool and the suction created when they were swept back into the sea produced a slight tickling sensation at my feet. I giggled a bit and we stepped further out into the surf.  
  
As we walked I began to toy with a few shells by turning them over with my toes. Occasionally I would sight a particulary interesting one and bend down to pick it up. Some of them I could name, and most of those I did not know Christian did, so between us we could identify the majority of the molusks in the surf.  
  
At last we entered waters that came up to our chests and Christian spoke, "Are you ready to learn how to swim?"  
  
I turned to him, wide-eyed with shock. "What?!"  
  
"Swimming. I am going to teach you." He nodded at me as if this were the most logical thing in the entire world.  
  
"But...but I ...we...can't..." my mind raced, trying to find a logical argument against this frightening suggestion. Something, anything! However...there was none.  
  
My breaths began to become sharper and my body tensed. I withdrew my hand from Christian's grasp and backed away... unfortuantly as I did, the undertow caught me and swept my feet out from under me.  
  
"Christian!" I cried out as I was sucked beneath the waves. Then my screams were silenced by the foul intrusion of salt water into my nose and mouth. Everything seemed to blur. The ocean snarled, roared, and my pulse thundered in my ears. I could not see for the frothing white foam that seemed to tear at me, drawing me down into the depths of the ocean. I thrashed about wildly, but was powerless to stop it. Somehow, my hair came loose and it's many yards joined with the sea in drowning me.  
  
Then, from nowhere, strong arms encircled my body and I was heaved, struggling and choking, to the surface.  
  
As the arms lifted me above the waves I felt them smacking me on the back, and I coughed up the seawater, the salt burning my throat and nasal passages. My entire body had suddenly lost all it's power and went limp against Christian's sturdy torso.  
  
He gave me a few minutes to regain my strength and then said gently, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Good," he grinned, "Then I take it you agree that you should learn to swim?"  
  
I hate it when he's right. 


	14. Tears and Tensions

DISCLAIMER: Do I really need to repeat myself?  
  
Author's Note: Ok, I intended to include a chapter similar to this earlier but Christian and Rapunzel kind of got away from me and the writing for that part was going so well that I kind of skipped over this. So here you go. This chapter takes place at the same time as chapter 13, just in a different location. By the way, Ianna: Thank you sooooooo much! You have no idea what that review meant to me!!!! Everyone else: PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!  
  
Chapter 14  
  
Rhainnon's POV  
  
--In the Palace of Sonra--  
  
"Christian!" Where was that child? "Christian, where are you?" I threw open his bedroom's door and sighed in exasperation at its emptiness. This was really getting out of hand, for over a month now my son had been visibly absent, and it was starting to give me gray hairs.  
  
"Christian, come here!"  
  
Not that I didn't have enough from his childhood. I think no woman has had a son more wily and audacious than mine. I had spent the majority of his childhood shielding my eyes when he tried to "fly" off roofs and policing his bedroom for new reptilian pets that "just happened" to follow him home. And in that time of young motherhood I had learned one thing: the most dangerous sound a child can make...is silence. And that was all I was receiving now.  
  
"Where is he?" I muttered to myself and reached over to close the door.  
  
"Majesty." A young page appeared behind me.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Prince Christian is nowhere to be found."  
  
I noticed. "Have you searched the stables? The kitchens?" Then, remembering the many occasions when my son had slipped off with several foreign head's of state's daughters during their visits, I asked, "The maids' quarters?"  
  
"Yes Majesty."  
  
I sighed as I pressed my fingertips to my temples and massaged my growing headache. I didn't have time for this. I had a meeting with the Minister of Trade in ten minutes and the King of Meladorn soon after. I simply HAD to meet with Christian beforehand, his presence was required.  
  
"Majesty may I speak freely?"  
  
I waved my hand and returned to my throbbing forehead, "Of course."  
  
"I do not believe his Highness the Prince has even been near the castle this past month."  
  
I dropped my hands and fixed my eyes upon this young boy. "What do you mean? How do you know?"  
  
His eyes shifted a little and he fidgeted with his cloak. "When I was at the stables the Head Groom mentioned that the Prince's personal stallion has been curiously absent during the day."  
  
What on earth... "Do you mean to tell me that a highly valuable stallion has been missing from our stables for the past month and that the Head Groom did not see fit to question it's absence and inform the King or myself?" I could feel the heat creeping up my collar.  
  
The poor page appeared frightened by my sudden flush of anger. "No Majesty, no..." he swallowed and continued, "the Head Groom has noted that the horse is locked in securely every night and that he sometimes appears quite tired but never mistreated. This is the reason he did not inform your Majesties."  
  
"Aaaarrrggghhh!!!" I cried and stormed out of the chamber hall. The stupidity of these people! And now I couldn't even go to question the Groom because of my previously arranged appointment. Lord help me!  
  
I noted the time and flew through the halls and down stairs to the Green Drawing Room where my husband, King Edric was waiting for me. To think that I had gone through such a difficult birth for such an exasperating child! Of course, the worst part was that no one, particularly myself, could stay angry with him for very long. He had the sweetest green eyes and a lopsided grin that could melt butter. His charm knew no bounds.  
  
Edric approached me, "Any sign?"  
  
"Darling, I've looked everywhere...our son must be part spry for he is nowhere to be found." I shook my head and Edric rubbed my shoulders with his warm hands.  
  
"Don't worry Rhainnon, we'll find him."  
  
"Sure, and when we do I'm going to kill him."  
  
Edric laughed and hugged me to his chest. "If he doesn't show it's his own fault. You told him his presence was required at the meeting with King Barnabas and Princess Almira. If he is not present..." Edric shrugged, "Well, we warned him."  
  
"I don't think he has heard a word that has been said to him this past month."  
  
Edric kissed my forehead, "Let's not worry over it now. The Minister of Trade is waiting on us."  
  
"You're right," I replied and took a deep breath. "Though I wish we didn't have to have this meeting again. The Minister is such a dear friend and I hate to see the disappointment in his face each time."  
  
---------We entered the Green Drawing Room and the Minister and his wife rose to greet us. "Good afternoon Edric, Rhainnon." As usual, they looked tired and worn. Although Demeter must have been a good two years younger than I...she looked older by ten. And Fritjof's prematurely gray beard only weighted the wrinkles at his eyes more.  
  
"Good afternoon Fritjof. Lovely to see you Demeter."  
  
There was a shaking of hands all around and Edric complimented Fritjof on his recent issuance of a more efficient currency. I saw no point in it. Paper money...it'll never last.  
  
Fritjof (or "Frit" as he preferred to be called) had been installed as Minister of trade some seventeen years ago when his marketing of several new inventions, such as a more efficient irrigation system, and brilliant economic theories had caught our attention. Although such a position of authority and genius of mind should have made him a wealthy man, Frit had not saved a penny of his revenue, but spent it on military aid and espionage. It was really rather sad. Several years ago his infant daughter had been abducted and he and his wife were still convinced she was alive and obsessed with finding her.  
  
We settled ourselves into sofas and Demeter tried bravely to smile. "Well, might as well get right to it. Have there been any developments?" Judging from the shadows lurking behind her eyes...she already knew the answer.  
  
"No."  
  
Both Fritjof and Demeter slumped lower in their seats.  
  
"Are you sure? Should we post the advertisment again? Maybe they've been looking for the wrong traits. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, a small mole right above her..."  
  
"We know Frit. Everyone knows," Edric said gently. "Look, I know this isn't easy for you. But Frit, Demeter...it's been seventeen years."  
  
Tears welling in her eyes, Demeter rose from the sofa. Slightly hysterical she cried, "That doesn't mean anything!  
  
I rose and put a hand to her shoulder. She shrugged it off. "Demeter, what Edric is trying to say is that it's useless to continue this quest. It's been too long. I know how much you loved your daughter, but even IF she's still alive..." at this Demeter shuddered, "Even if she's still alive there is no possible way we could identify her. Do you know how many blonde- haired, blue-eyed young women there are in this kingdom? And for all we know she may be across the ocean!"  
  
Edric stood and faced the weeping couple, "She was an infant when she was stolen. She wouldn't have a familiar name, or even remember you. I'm sorry...it's hopeless. You're only hurting yourselves more this way."  
  
Fritjof took his wife in his arms and held her as she sobbed. "Perhaps you're right. It's just that...well...she's our daughter. We still love her."  
  
Suddenly Demeter wrenched herself away from Fritjof and began screaming, "IT'S THAT DAMNED WITCH!!! HER RAMPION IS THE CAUSE OF ALL OF THIS!!! WHY DID I HAVE TO EAT IT?! WHY?!?!"  
  
"Darling! Stop!"  
  
"IT'S ALL MY FAULT! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" she began tearing at her silver hair, "WHY COULDN'T I HAVE WAITED UNTIL SHE RETURNED? THIS IS THE PUNISHEMENT FOR OUR SINS!"  
  
Edric and I held each other as Demeter collapsed into Fritjof's arms, her body wrenching with sobs.  
  
"What is she talking about?" We had never heard this part before.  
  
Fritjof looked as us with pained eyes.  
  
"You told us you had no idea who had taken the baby."  
  
There was a heaviness about the air as Demeter cried into Fritjof's shoulder. The sunshine pouring in through the windows suddenly did little to alleviate the growing cold of the room.  
  
"We did not tell you, because it was our own sins that took our daughter from us," he sighed, "I stole rampion from an elderly woman to give to my wife during her pregnancy. We left payment and would have begged permission first, but the woman was away. When she returned..." here Frit seemed to choke on his words, "When she returned, she took our child in payment of the stolen rampion and we never saw her again."  
  
"What was her name?"  
  
"I don't remember the surname. Her first name was Agrona."  
  
I gave a start and Edric clutched my hand tightly.  
  
"A—Agrona?"  
  
"Yes..." Frit was eyeing us suspiciously.  
  
"When did you say your daughter's birthday was?"  
  
"The fifth of June. Why?"  
  
"This Agrona...I know where she was," I whispered. "Not that it would help any but...she was with me."  
  
Demeter quit weeping and looked up. "With YOU?"  
  
"I asked her to prophesy over my son when he was born, ironically enough, the same day."  
  
Edric attempted to bring order to the room. "Look, this means nothing that Agrona was attending at the palace. The important thing is that we have a new lead. This is something else we can look for. We know the captor by name. Let's just all relax and see what we can do about this all right?"  
  
Fritjof and Demeter nodded reluctantly. I turned towards the door and swallowed. "If you will excuse us Frit...Demeter...Edric and I have another meeting to attend. We will be relaying this new information to our troops as soon as possible."  
  
They nodded and I embraced each of them as we exited the room. As much as I had hated seeing Frit and Demeter hurt, I was looking forward even less to the ensuing engagement with King Barnabus and Princess Almira. 


	15. The Heaven Unexpected Came

DISCLAIMER: You know what's mine and what isn't.  
  
Author's Note: Ianna...I'm speechless. Thank you SOOOO much! I have never had such a review in my life! I hearby dedicate this fanfic "Without A Stair" to you. You are so very right. I do try very hard to accommodate any criticism I receive, but perhaps I should just write from the heart (and then go back and write from the head). Thank you again! (I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.)  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
"Ok, now just reach out and pull back. That's right, now try it on your own," Christian instructed in a firm, gentle voice. He was holding me by the waist in the water as I practiced my arm strokes.  
  
It was nearing evening and my anxiety was calmed by the cool breeze that always seems to accompany the end of a day on the sea. Like a gentle caress the air enveloped me in its sweet scent and provided a pleasant contrast to the warm seawater that I was floating in.  
  
"You're doing great," Christian proclaimed, "Now I'm going to let go of you and back away a bit. I want you to swim to me unaided."  
  
I nodded and took a deep breath to hold my nerves steady. Christian placed his hands firmly on my shoulders to indicate that I was to stay in place, and then backstroked about fifteen feet. "All right...go!"  
  
I lunged forward into the water, kicking furiously and slicing my arms through the waves...nothing happened. I sank like a stone.  
  
"Rapunzel!" I heard Christian cry and saw him plunge into the water as I sank, flailing my arms wildly against the ocean.  
  
Falling towards the sandy bottom I thrashed my limbs savagely, desperately trying to regain my buoyancy. Through the greenish haze of bubbles, foam, and sand I saw the shadowy outline of my prince swimming towards me...slowly it seemed. Ever so sluggishly. Everything had slowed to a crawling pace. Sound muted to a soft whisper and even the screams back in my throat seemed distant from me. I felt as though I were merely a bystander in this affair, watching myself sink. Even my wild thrashes in the water appeared to be moving at a rate all their own, completely out of sync with my brain.  
  
Gradually, he grew closer and closer, and lethargically wrapped his arms around me. We began to ascend the surface, yet this time much more slowly that we had previously. Somewhere in the back of my mind my brains were trying to reason the cause for this, and yet it almost didn't seem to matter to my dimwitted state.  
  
Nearing the surface, Christian seemed to falter and for one horrifying moment, I feared we were about to sink once more into the green fathoms below.  
  
Then everything roared back to me. We erupted from the waves and all at once there was a cacophony, gasping, vomiting of seawater, the thunder of the surf and frantic motions as Christian hauled me back to shore.  
  
I collapsed onto the dank sand and coughed up the rest of the saline. Christian lay on his back, breathing heavily. At last he reached an arm over to me and gasped, "God, I thought we were going to sink together."  
  
"Why did it take so long?" I choked out, clawing the sand as the salt in my nasal passages and trachea burned like fire.  
  
Christian raised up and brushed some of my wet hair out of my face. "Your hair."  
  
"What about it?" I tried to sit up but fell back to the shore.  
  
"It's too heavy. You sank too fast and were too weighty to lift because of it. Last time I was merely standing in the water and lifted you out. But this time...this time I could barely lift you. You're a very slight person Rapunzel, but twenty ells of hair soaking wet probably weights thrice your body weight."  
  
Christian took a handful of my locks and pondered them quietly. "We've got to cut this off."  
  
I sat up strait. "WHAT?!"  
  
"Calm down, I didn't mean..."  
  
"I can't cut my hair! I need it!" For what I didn't know exactly. Just that without my hair I would be vulnerable, completely susceptible to the world.  
  
"Rapunzel!" Christian shouted. I was stunned into silence and stared at him as he said, "I was just...talking hypothetically ok?" He frowned and for a moment looked as though he was going to say something else, but did not.  
  
"I think I've had enough swimming for today."  
  
He nodded, "Perhaps you're right." Then stood, "Come on, let's go back out. I want to show you something."  
  
I stood and took Christian's hand, and we began to wade back out into the ocean. The sun was sinking lower towards the horizon and I knew that our daylight would soon be extinguished.  
  
"So what was it you wanted to show me?"  
  
"I figured out why you sank." Christian held up my hand, "When you reached out to take a stroke your fingers were claw-like and the water passed right through them. Try cupping your hands instead."  
  
I tried to form my hands as he said but apparently I was still doing it incorrectly because he said, "No, stop. Here." Christian took my left hand and held it upright. Then, ever so gently, he pressed his own hand up against it, forming my hand into the correct position. Quietly he said, "That's what your hand should do. That way the water doesn't pass through the fingers like this." And he slowly shifted his fingers, lacing them through my own. Then taking my right hand and doing the same...and all the while his eyes never left mine.  
  
For a few minutes all that could be heard was the crashing of the waves and the call of the seagulls as they settled in for the night. I was having trouble remembering how to breathe.  
  
"Is that all you wanted to show me?" I asked quietly, a flicker of a smile tracing my lips.  
  
He smiled softly, "No." Then crossed his arms (causing me to turn with my back towards him) and looped his arms around my waist, still not letting go of my hands. He gently pulled me back and I leaned against his chest, as we faced out towards the western horizon.  
  
"Watch for a moment," he whispered. We stood in silence, up to our lower chests in the warm sea and watched the sun sink into the waters.  
  
As the sun set, the great golden orb seemed to grow in size and it's reflection was cast into the waves, broken up like fragments of a stained glass window. The sea seemed to have been sprinkled with diamonds and gold flecks, and crimson, purple, and golden rays shot forth across the sky, lining the clouds with golden fringe and mingling with the twilight lavender of the sky. This must be Heaven, I thought, for God himself could not have a greater palace than this.  
  
"It's beautiful," I breathed.  
  
"So are you." Christian pivoted my body so that we stood face to face. His eyes found mine and slowly he brought my hands up to his shoulders and unhooked his fingers, bringing his arms around my waist.  
  
There has never been a feeling of peace and contentment greater than I felt at that moment.  
  
Christian's POV She was so beautiful. I wanted so badly to say all the things I felt and let her know just how valuable she was to me...but more than that...I wanted her trust. Never before in my life had I had a greater urge to protect someone than I did for her.  
  
At last I knew that I had to take my chance. I leaned close to her and whispered, "I love you, Rapunzel."  
  
For one terrifying moment I feared she would say nothing in return...and then...  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
"I love you too, Christian."  
  
And with that, he pulled me firmly against his body and lowered his lips to mine.  
  
When at last the stars were beginning to emerge we parted and returned to shore. I moved to mount Philip, but Christian stayed my motion. "I, uh...I'm not really sure how to say this..." he paused for a moment and his eyes flickered around as though his words could be found inscribed in the sand, then continued, "I never want to be apart from you again. I want to feel you beside me when I lay down to sleep and I want your lovely voice to be the first thing I hear when I wake up every morning. In short, I...I would like you ask you...if you would consent to return with me to my castle," at last his eyes found mine, "...and marry me."  
  
Christian's POV  
  
She did not respond. Oh God, I thought, I've frightened her. Now she will refuse to see me! A thousand horrible thoughts rushed into my mind until...  
  
Rapunzel's POV  
  
"Yes."  
  
Christian's eyes widened and he quavered, "What?"  
  
I giggled a little, "I said, YES!!!" And he gave a shout of joy, lifted me into his arms and we laughed as he twirled me through the air. "Yes! Yes! YES!" I couldn't quit shouting until at last Christian kissed my laughter into silence.  
  
"Let's go tonight," he said excitedly.  
  
"No, I have to go home tonight. I need to get some things packed and...well I want to see Agrona one last time."  
  
"All right..." he said between kisses, "We'll leave," kiss, "tomorrow," kiss, "morning." Kiss.  
  
His warm breath tickled my neck and I laughed again, "Ok! Ok! Tomorrow morning it is!"  
  
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against mine, "I love you, my golden bird." 


	16. An Imperial Affliction

**DISCLAIMER:** The norm.  
  
**Author's Note:** Thank you to all of my reviewers and readers for you patience in waiting for this chapter and for all of your encouragement. PLEASE KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!  
  
**_Chapter 16_  
**  
**--Christian's POV--**  
  
Creeping towards the kitchen doors I glanced around cautiously, not wanting to be seen. The castle was still, it's hundreds of firelit windows glittering warmly against the five-hundred-year-old stone turrets that rose sublimely into the nigrescent sky, bejewled with stars. There was no moon tonight, much to my advantage. The darkness would be my cover, and my sight. Without the moonshine to cloud my vision I could scan all of the brightly lit windows of the castle and search for figures who might be observing me. This night...there were none.  
  
I thanked God that I had not been seen. For the past month I had been dodging my parents, leaving before the crack of dawn and returning long after nightfall. I had left them with no indication of where I had been escaping to or explanation for my actions. Perhaps I said nothing because I wanted my privacy. Maybe because I didn't think they would believe me. Or maybe it was just because for the first time in my life I had felt free. Free from the the demands and regualtions of court, free from the prying eyes that watched my every move. Eyes that weighed, measured, and cut me into their perception of what a prince should be. Eyes that stripped all the beauty away from the world and used people as pawns in the manipulative political games they played. Maybe I just didn't want any part of that. Whatever the reason, I was glad for the darkness.  
  
Under the cloak of night I hastened to the doors and slipped inside as the church bells began to chime midnight. The kitchens were dark and deserted, as I knew they would be at this time of night. It was no great difficulty to manuver my way around the cluttered rooms, lit only by the dying coals in the massive fireplaces, as I had been doing this my whole life. By the time I was five years old I was so well aquainted with the castle kitchens that I could sneak into them to nick food in the dead of the night without disturbing so much as a frying pan.  
  
I slunk down the corridors and crept sliently up stairs to my tower bedroom. All was quiet. In one swift motion I unlatched the door handle and slid quickly into my bedroom, shutting the door noiselessly, not able to feel the tension leave my stomach until I had firmly latched it again from the inside. I sighed my relief at escaping detection and rested my forehead against the cool oak of the door.  
  
"Where have you been?" the voice settled over the air like a fog to a dank seashore, breaking a cold sweat over my forehead. I stood there, frozen, willing with all my heart for that voice to have simply been a figment of my imagination. I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my fists against the doorway. A second went by, two seconds, three...then...  
  
"Christian, I asked where you have been all day. Turn around and look at me." With great reluctance, I pivoted, revolving the simple one hundred and eighty degrees, but not a step forward, keeping my back pressed against the wall.  
  
There, seated in two armchairs beside the hearth, eyes focused on the oriental rug beneath their feet, were my parents. I expelled the breath that had caught in my throat.  
  
"How long have you been here?" I demanded.  
  
Father said quietly, "That is not your concern, Christian. The pressing question is of your whereabouts. We can stay here all night if that is what it takes to get an answer."  
  
"I was out riding Philip in the forest." This was basically true.  
  
"From daybreak 'til dusk? Every day for a month?" Their eyes were still studying the intricate patterns of the carpet.  
  
I never lied to my parents. Never said something blatently untrue at least. I did however, elect to omit certain portions of my story. I told them how I had been to the ocean, studdied the defence tactics of bumblebees, and been caught in a storm. But I knew I wasn't fooling them. And they knew that I knew.  
  
"Christian," my mother began, "we both know that there is more to this story than you are telling us. But I am going to let it go with the assumption that these charades will be put to rest tonight. There is to be no more of these foolish escapades. Do you understand?"  
  
"But mother I haven't _done _anything!" I stressed.  
  
Father was out of his chair, and in two long steps had crossed the room to stand in front of me. "Of course you haven't!" His eyes were fire, boring into mine. "That's the problem Christian! You have done _nothing_. You are the Crown Prince and heir to the throne of Sonra. You have the duty of a prince to provide for this nation and it's inhabitants."  
  
"WELL WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO _BE_ A PART OF IT?!" I screamed, slamming my fist against the oak door so that the walls shook from the blow.  
  
My father's voice went deadly cold, somehow more vehement it it's stillness than mine had been in it's volume. "Our family has been entrusted with the royal crown that we might devote our lives to governing and caring for the people of this kingdom. This is not a choice, Christian. This is a responsibility. It is not a pasttime, it is an obligation. And I am sorry but you are the sole heir to the crown. There is no one else who can bear this burden for you. You have a duty to your people, and part of that duty is _to be here to accept it_!" The last few words were delivered with such potency that I dared not speak.  
  
My eyes lingered on the floor, walls, and ceiling...anywhere but my father or mother who was quiet in her seat, arms unmoving. For a fleeting moment she reminded me of a marble statue I had seen last autumn. It was a beautiful piece of art, imported from an island in the Aegean Sea. Strangly the sculpture had been missing both of it's arms. Against my wishes, my father had sold it, but the apathetic expression on it's face for that moment, mirrored my mother's.  
  
Father turned away and retreated to a window. The was a long moment of silence before he spoke again.  
  
"One of the duties required of the royal family is that the bloodlines be continued. In your case, the only child of a king whose siblings died of plague and a mother who was orphaned as a child, this is even more important."  
  
I took a step forward, eyeing my father, "What are you saying?"  
  
"I'm saying, your mother and I arn't as young as we used to be, and we are deeply concerned to be leaving our kingdom and our people to the wisdom of a boy who refuses to become a man!"  
  
I looked down at the floor.  
  
Mother stood and came to place a hand on my shoulder. "Christian, it's time to grow up. You must begin to lead this nation while your father and I are still here to give you guidence. Someday we will be gone and then the only person you will have to turn to will be your wife."  
  
"Wife? But mother..."  
  
Father jumped in, "Don't worry, we have selected a fine young woman from an excellent leniage..."  
  
I cut him off, "What?! _You_ have selected? But I thought that the Prince was supposed to court his own..."  
  
"WELL MAYBE IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE DO DO IT YOU COULD HAVE CHOSEN FOR YOURSELF!" my father roared, his eyes blazen. I looked to mother, but there was no sympathy in her eyes either.  
  
Taking a deep breath to steady myself I asked, "Who is she?"  
  
"Princess Almira of Meladorn. Daughter of King Barnabus," mother stated. "She is wealthy, educated, and of good breeding. I presume you will find her suitable, as did we."  
  
I tried to think rationally. _This was all wrong! Why had everything blown up in my face? _Around us the air was still, the ticking of my clock siphoning away the minutes of silence, mounting second upon second in a crushing weight that descended down upon me, heavier than the crown I would soon have to bear.  
  
Taking a deep breath, I challanged quietly, "What if I choose someone else?"  
  
Father almost laughed at the absurdity of the statement. "The betrothal papers will be signed tomorrow by King Barnabus, Princess Almira, your mother, me, and, should you decided to grace us with your presence...yourself."  
  
"But if I chose a bride for myself and had her acceptance of my proposal before the signing...I could have her instead could I not?"  
  
Mother looked to Father, "You have someone in mind Christian?"  
  
"Suppose I did. What would you say?"  
  
"I'd say we're lucky enough to find such a girl as Princess Almira for you. Not that you didn't do your best to scare her away like all the others."  
  
I held out my hands, "What are you _talking_ about? I have always been more than hospitable to each and every one..."  
  
Laughter. "Yes, you snuck off with several of the better-looking ones I must say. But after you had stolen your kisses, _Prince Charming_, you arrogantly denied to consider marriage," mother rolled her eyes. She continued, "If some girl really has won your heart I must give her my congratulations, because my son, you are a disgraceful womanizer!"  
  
The words hit home and I cast my gaze downwards, ashamed.  
  
Father took up where mother had left off, "I don't suppose you remember swinging from the barn rafters about a month ago do you?"  
  
I looked up, nodding slowly.  
  
"Well, the young lady you were trying to escape is your future bride. Congratulations." His tone was grim and accusing.  
  
_Her?! The Donkey-Girl with the nasal twang?! It couldn't be!_ "No! Not her!" I cried emphatically.  
  
"Yes, her. Unless somehow, by tomorrow night, you manage to conjour up another respectable young lady who will agree to marry you...she's it."  
  
"What if I do?"  
  
Mother threw up her hands! "Then by all means marry the girl, Christian! I don't care! I am sick to death of this discussion!" She put her fingertips to her temples and massaged them, eyes closed as she said, "I'll give you twenty four hours. And if you can pull it off you can marry the girl of your choosing."  
  
I threw my arms around her in glee and cried, "Thank you! Thank you Mother!"  
  
Father cut in and gently pushed me back so he could see my face. "A word of caution, son...I'm fed up with your antics. If you don't have a bride here by midnight tomorrow, and not a second later, we're signing without you and the marriage will commence as planned. Do we understand each other?"  
  
"Yes, Father," I answered quietly. The air seemed less oppresive now. I could do anything with Rapunzel at my side...even rule a kingdom. She brought that spark of beauty and joy into my life that always seemed to light my way.  
  
"Good." Father took Mother by the hand and they slowly made their way towards the door, before turning once more to say, "And Christian, do us a favor?"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Don't go gallavanting off somewhere tonight. Get some sleep for once."  
  
I chuckled just a little. "Will do."  
  
And with that, my Mother and Father left my room.

* * *

**--Rhannion's POV--**  
  
Once outside our son's room and out of earshot husband whispered to me, "Rhannion, are you sure about this? He could bring in any peasent girl off the street! And do it just to spite us!"  
  
I shook my head, "He won't. He may be a child but he is not _that_ stupid." I paused, "Something's changed about our son, Edric. I'm not sure what it is. But maybe, just maybe this fictional girl of his does exist. And if she does, I think it is she who will help our little boy become a man." 


	17. The Breaking of the Day

**DISCLAIMER:** You know the drill.  
  
**Author's Note:** Ok, I know the last chapter wasn't that exciting but the writing was of high caliber. I liked it. Anyways, this one should be a little more exciting for you. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!  
  
**To Stellrgz:** The quote in your bio is from, "I'm Nobody, Who're You?"-E. Dickenson. Perhaps you have recognized some of my chapter titles?  
  
**And To All My Readers:** "This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me/The simple news that nature told/With tender majesty./Her message is committed/To hands I cannot see/For love of her, sweet countrymen/Judge tenderly of me!" REVIEW!!!!!  
  
_**Chapter Seventeen**_  
  
**--Rapunzel's POV—  
**  
I don't know where the knife came from. Only that the light's reflection off its blade blinded me and I could not move away no matter how hard I tried to wrench my arms from whatever was holding them behind my back. There was a tearing pain at the nape of my neck and a reverberating clatter as the dagger was thrown to the floor by the Cimmerian force behind me.  
  
Christian was screaming something, the panicked words unintelligible as he crouched on the windowsill, his body silhouetted by the carmine blaze behind him. Then there was a howling rush of air and the floors beneath me began to rumble causing Christian to lose his balance and in one horrifying moment... topple out of the window to the earth below.  
  
Rushing to the windowsill I screamed as I watched his terrified eyes, bright with fear...falling, falling, falling, until...  
  
CRASH!!!!  
  
I awoke with a start to the deafening roar of thunderclaps around me. The storm that had drenched our forest sanctuary must have shifted closer to my tower during the night. I sat up and rubbed my hands together. From my elbows down to my fingertips my arms and hands were completely numb.  
  
_What time is it? It's so dark...surely it cannot be morning already._ Squinting though the faint blue light that bathed my chambers, I arose and padded across the chilled stone to my window. Just breaking the horizon, the faintest sliver of scarlet light declared the arrival of dawn. Flexing my hands I felt the rush of blood reentering their veins. Slowly and painfully, the feeling began to return.  
  
Again the thunder rolled across the sky and as I leaned to glance upwards at the heavens, an icy drizzle stung my face. I quickly pulled back and rubbed my shoulders. It was unseasonably cold for this time of year.  
  
Shivering, I scurried back to bed and retrieved my dressing gown to ward off the chill. I hoped the storm would soon pass so that the warmth of late July could permeate the dawn.  
  
_But what of the dream?_ I stood, silent, in the middle of the room, reliving the chaotic nightmare that had violated my sleep. What was that thing that had restrained me? Why had the knife not sliced my throat? A shiver ran down my spine, this time not caused by the chill of the morning air.  
  
**--Christian's POV—**  
  
Although it might have been less obtrusive to simply climb out of my bedroom window via my bed sheets, I opted for a retracing of last night's route through the kitchens as they were warm with the heat of already turning spits and outside...it was cold as hell.  
  
Wrapping my cloak tightly around me, I quietly exited my bedchambers and made my way carefully down the corridor, pausing by my parents' bedroom door and listening carefully for any sound of their awakening. Long moments of silence passed and, having decided that it was safe to proceed, I tiptoed past their room and continued my trek to the stables.  
  
At long last I arrived at the kitchen doors, the second barrier between myself and the stables. The trouble was that this particular obstacle would be more difficult to cross as the kitchens were already populated with staff and maids preparing the morning meal.  
  
From within came the happy chatter of the servants' gossiping.  
  
"O' Gerdy, 'ave you sliced that pomegranate open?" one voice, most likely from the throat of a heavy-set woman, called.  
  
Another, this time high-pitched and squeaking with a lisp, "Not yet I 'aven't. Are you thertain we thhouldn't thave it for the engagement thelebration tomorrow? Bethides, it ith rather cold thith mornin'."  
  
There was the sound of water pouring, the steam hissing off the top as it boiled, and water running again. I understood her to be using our indoor water pump. About a year ago our Minister of Trade had had a brainstorm while installing a new irrigation system in our gardens and had actually piped water _inside_ the castle kitchens. In a few more months he had planned to have it installed in our bathrooms as well. I shouldn't have expected less...he was a very remarkable man to have been born a mere merchant.  
  
Again the deep-throated woman, "True. Let's 'ave baked apples this morning and we'll save the more expensive fruit for tomorrow. That is if we even _'ave_ an engagement."  
  
"What do you mean Maude?" _Oh wonderful._  
  
"Well, now dad blast it, where is that knife?" there was a rattling of the cutlery, "All I'm sayin' is that I've seen the likes of that Princess and let me tell you..." I could almost see the knowing way the heavy woman's eyes slid sideways. "I don't know 'ow long our Prince'll tolerate 'er."  
  
"I've heard thhe'th a little..._unuthual_."  
  
"A giant prat is more like it. Of course, then again, she an' Prince Christian ain't that dif'rent so meh be it's a good move after all."  
  
"Maude! Don't thay thingth like that! Prince Chrithtian's not that bad." _Praise the Lord! A kind word! _"I mean yeth, he do tend to neglect his dutieth a bit, and thometimeth he do dithobey his parenth...a great deal...but ofthen doeth thome good thingth for uth!"  
  
Now being told you're a jerk three times in twenty-four hours seems a little excessive to me but then again what do I know?  
  
"I guess that's true. 'e _did_ 'elp us a few times...but still..."  
  
I had had enough. Pretending to have heard nothing of the conversation, I threw open the doors and skipped in, smiling at Maude and Gerdy. "Good morning ladies!"  
  
They looked like a pair of squirrels, caught unawares, sneaking nuts from the cupboard. Maude, sweat glistening down her pudgy face, grey curls sticking to her sagging cheeks, was standing petrified, while she refilled the pot, with water overflowing the sink and cascading off the counter onto her skirts and shoes. And Gerdy, a short, dangerously thin, long nosed woman with eyes wide, held a paring knife in one hand and an apple in the other.  
  
I smiled genially and kindly gestured to the miniature waterfall at Maude's waist. "You might want to turn that off."  
  
"What?" she shook her head, eyes clouded with confusion...and saw the dripping. "O' gracious!" She snapped off the water pump and hefted the pot of water up.  
  
"Here," I sang cheerily, running over and taking the pot from her, "that's heavy. Let me do that. Where would you like it?"  
  
Her mouth opened and closed a few times and she gestured helplessly towards the cooking vessel in the fireplace. I poured the pan-full in and handed the canister back to her with a flourish.  
  
There was a making of noises and shifting of the hands and eyes as the cooks tried for the life of them to find something to say. In good taste, I pretended not to notice and began to make my way towards the back doors.  
  
Just as I laid my hand on the handle I turned back around quickly and said in a most purposeful tone, "Oh! I forgot! Ladies I was thinking that it might be better to save the pomegranates, oranges, and...well you know...expensive fruit for tomorrow. Would you mind using...say," here I shrugged," ...apples, this morning? Perhaps baked?"  
  
They gave tired nods.  
  
"Thanks ladies! You are so wonderful!" I called as I pranced out the doors.  
  
**--Rapunzel's POV—**  
  
Fighting the chill, I threw off my dressing gown and nightclothes and stepped quickly into a light blue frock. As I tightened the laces up the back I slid my feet into a pair of shoes and ran across the room to the fireplace to kindle a blaze. Hands shaking, I opened the tinderbox to incite the flames and carried the log pile of reserve wood over to the hearth so that it would be easier later on, to add a log or two.  
  
I replaced the tinderbox on the mantle and rubbed my hands together to create friction. If I was lucky, I thought, I would soon have quite a fire going.  
  
**--Christian's POV—**  
  
With a stifled laugh I pulled the kitchen doors shut behind me and shook my head. I needed to focus if I was going to leave this place before the sun rose too high in the sky and the castle woke. The castle grounds were breathtaking this morning, I noticed as I began to scan the region. A faint mist hung over the land like the breath of the North Wind. Here a squirrel scurried across through the trees, no doubt gathering acorns for the autumn that had come a month early. And far to the west, a storm seemed to be moving closer.  
  
I took a few tentative steps out onto the lawns and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one about. When suddenly...  
  
"Stop! Don't move!" an angry voice called from behind me.  
  



	18. The Breezes Madder Play

**DISCLAIMER: **The original fairytale, "Rapunzel" belongs to the Brother's Grimm. All I own are a few of the characters and any elaboration made to the plot.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to all of the reviewers who wrote in with constructive criticism. I have taken your advice to heart and revised this chapter for the (hopefully) last time. Basically, what I have done is to include Ch. 19 in this one. Ch. 19 was only about 700 words and I didn't want to add more to it, as the next chapter will be a greater length. So here it is. Please tell me what you think of it. I hope I did a good job. I'm sort of anxious. I hope I haven't disappointed you.

Chapter 18 

**--Christian's POV—**

Stunned by the angry voice's words I froze in my tracks. _Who could possibly have known I was out here? _Had I been seen? By who? I thought quickly. Did I even _have _any defenses? The sword at my side was only the thin rapier for daily use. It was certainly not built for a true sword fight but would be deadly enough should I be able to act swiftly. The mist of the frozen morn began to form beads on my forehead. Or perhaps that was a nervous sweat.

"Turn around slowly," the throaty, yet strangely familiar voice growled. I raised my hands above my head to show I was no threat and cautiously complied. The small crunching noises my boots made on the cold grass seemed magnified a thousand times in the deathly quiet. _I must be quick, _I thought. _If I am to escape I must strike before I can be caught. _Ever so slowly I shifted my weight to ease my rapier out of my cloak.

Though the blood was not circulating through my raised arms and they had begun to tingle and ache, I kept them steady above my head as I turned to face my adversary.

**--Rapunzel's POV—**

In the time it took to light the fire in my hearth the drizzle had strengthened and I was forced to close the window in order to keep my chamber warm. Latching the clasp I squinted to see out. The window was fogged. Using the edge of my sleeve I rubbed a small, clear spot on the glass and peered out into the tempestuous dawn. But for the sliver of crimson sun it could have been night.

The last time I had seen a storm this severe Agrona been unable to come to my tower. I had been very afraid when she did not arrive and (because of her absence) had gone without that day's meals. When she finally returned the next morning I had hugged her tightly to my body and wept yet again. That was one thing I had always hated about myself...the crying. I wished I could hold back my tears and keep my composure the way Agrona did, but I suppose I was just too emotional a person. It was only in the privacy of my solitude that I was comfortable crying.

Under my bed were two sacks reserved for dirtied clothes and rubbish from my writing desk. These I retrieved and emptied onto my bed. The one for soiled clothing was taken away once a week by Agrona and returned with clean clothes. Luckily for me, she had returned the sack to me two days ago and I would have it for packing. They were not terribly large but they would hold a few select items that I would carry with me through my transcendence into my next world.

Thunder rumbled, declaring war against the lightening that ensued, and I again remembered my dream. The horrible coldness that had bound me...the look of terror on Christian's face as he had called out to me before falling...I shuddered. Why that dream? I had been so happy the previous evening...why had I dreamt such an awful scene? Looking out at the growing storm I asked myself...had it been an omen?

_No! That's absurd!_ I shook my head and tugged one of the sacks off the bed, towards my wardrobe. _It was a dream and nothing more. _Dreams are only reflections of our daily thoughts and worries. I was agonizing over nothing.Wasn't I?

_But if a dream is only a reflection of our thoughts..._I pulled open the mirrored door and breathed in deeply the musty smell of cedar..._what apprehension had I been repressing?_

**--Christian's POV—**

Setting my jaw and steeling my nerve I took the final step in my revolution and snapped my arms down, drawing my sword swiftly out of it's sheath! I might have chosen death, but I would not be captured without a fight!

In one motion I assumed fencing position and pointed my rapier at my enemy! "Come on and fight me you!...you..." my jaw dropped. _What on earth is _he _doing here?_

A portly King Barnabus stood akimbo, glaring at me with his bug-eyes. Moth-eaten robes hung wrinkled, from his shoulders, which bore a head sporting a tarnished crown. Four rather unpolished guards, flanking his sides, brandished badly molded daggers from sheaths askew on their belts.

I lowered my sword. Stifling a snicker, I raised an eyebrow as I inquired, "Can I...help you?"

The solider directly to Barnabus's right spoke up. "H-h-hold s-still, and th-throw d-down your sword-d."

I couldn't help it. I threw my head back and laughed. I mean I absolutely _howled_.

The poor man who had spoken, furrowed his blotchy brow in a self-conscious manner, his ruddy, pimpled face revealing his discomfort. I almost felt sorry for him, as he stood there awkwardly waving his dull blade with arms that were far too long for his puny body. The poor fellow couldn't have intimidated anyone if his life depended on it. Why just his cloddish stance and gestures made the very idea of his threatening anyone utterly comical.

"My lord," I choked out through peels of laughter, "I would know on what account I have offended you."

The stuttering solider attempted to speak again, but King Barnabus, I think having sensed the plausible humiliation for both the dolt and himself, answered for him in the throaty voice that had called out to me earlier. Funny, but now having a body, his speech did not send chills down my back...more like spasms as I tried to withhold my chortling. "You have been gone for over a month. I don't know where you have been going or why, but boy..." here he took a shaky breath, "you'd better understand," the King shook a finger at me, "I don't want my daughter hurt. Everyone knows you're a dreadful womanizer."

_Make that _four_ times. _I sighed and gestured my rapier at the untrained guards. "You can tell your men to put down their...swords. I won't harm them." Perhaps under different circumstances the five men would have scoffed at one man who stood alone reassuring them that they would come to no harm...but as I have already said...these were special circumstances. The men, who were really no more than boys, were shaking in their boots. Barnabus nodded and the fellows put away their weapons and fell back into the meadow, out of earshot.

"Look," I continued, "I don't want to hurt Almira. I just...well, she is not...she would make a better wife for someone else." Privately I thought, _someone like those ridiculous lads._

"Be that as it may, my daughter...and I...have been under the understanding that the engagement papers will be signed today. And instead...YOU'RE RUNNING OFF AGAIN!" The man's buggy eyes turned glassy and red.

I sheathed my weapon and held out my hands in a helpless gesture. "Your majesty, _I_ never agreed to this arrangement. I'm sorry for any pain my absence has caused you or your daughter..." _Am I _apologizing_? _"But I am in love with someone else. I have to go."

The King looked down at his boots. His shoulders slumped and I heard him give a shaky sigh. Muttering to himself, he said quietly, "What am I going to tell Almira?"

The poor fellow. I couldn't believe it but I was actually feeling sorry for him. "Here," I stepped closer and braced my hands against his shoulders to make him stand up strait. The damp chill of his mildewed robes biting into my hands. "Don't let your men see you like this. I'll make you a deal. I'll give you the same bargain I made with my parents."

His eyes squinted a little in question. "What's that?"

"Let me go. Give me until midnight tonight. I love another. If I return with her by the appointed hour, I will keep her and find a way to honorable return you and your daughter to your home country."

"And if not?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Then I will marry Almira as I have promised."

"I don't believe you," Barnabus said coldly. "I've heard stories about your pranks and schemes and frankly my Prince, that's enough for me. You are dishonorable to the court, your parents, and my daughter when you run off each day on your nonsensical escapades. I will have no more of this."

"My Lord..." I started, but the King cut me off.

"You are not leaving."

"Yes. I am."

"No," he flicked his right arm behind him and made a beckoning gesture with his fingers. Over the rise of ground, his guards emerged, looking significantly less comical with their well-carved crossbows aimed strait for my chest. "You're not."

**--Rapunzel's POV—**

I began by throwing the contents of my wardrobe one by one, dresses, petticoats, and shoes, into the smaller of the bags. There wasn't much point in folding anything because it would all become wrinkled during the ride back to Sonra anyways.

Outside, lightening flashed. _What if Agrona can't make it?_ I thought. _What if the storm is too bad?_ Then, _What if I don't get to say "goodbye"?_

I sighed and shook my head. I needed to quit thinking these awful thoughts. If this continued, I would never find the courage to leave.

Returning to the task at hand I reached once again into the wardrobe to feel for any garments I had left behind.

**--Agrona's POV—**

I knew something was wrong even before I opened my eyes. My joints were too stiff. My chest was too tight. It took a conscious effort to even pull open my eyelids. A physician I once took medicinal lessons from had told me that old persons knew when they were going to die long before even healers could see it. Something in their body changes and they can subconsciously perceive their body's expiration. Like watching the last grains of an hourglass fall through the constriction.

Rising slowly, I crept to the window and peered one eye outside through a tiny slit, being careful not to let too much light in.

I needn't have worried. There was no sunlight to burn my eyes. A storm had risen over night. Perhaps that had something to do with my condition. My eye darted with practiced accuracy to the rampion bed. These past few months I had been expecting to see sprouts appearing, but to no avail. Not one shoot had emerged from the soil. Of course it had been difficult lately even to go out to check the beds. My eyesight was beginning to gray significantly, and I wasn't always particularly sure if what I saw was really there or just obliterated by the dark smudges that clouded my eyesight.

I hobbled across the room, keeping to the shadow, even in my own house. Seventeen years ago this would have been much easier, if it weren't for that damned peasant woman who ate my rampion. And her stupid, gullible husband who _stole_ it from me. Silver. They had wanted to repay me in _silver!_ What good is money to me? I have what I need. It was that rampion that kept me alive!

Now I was resigned to trekking everyday to that tower to run my hands through that girl's hair. But this was far less satisfying than a pure bite of immortality. Every day my climb up the wall became more and more difficult. If my rampion did not bloom soon, I feared I would be unable to make the ascent anymore. Trouble was, it would have been so easy to simply move into the tower room with Rapunzel. But I needed to tend to my garden of eternal life. If I did not keep it properly irrigated it would wither and die.

Fantastically enough, I had heard passing rumors that the idiotic peasant man who had stolen my rampion, had "invented" a marvelous new irrigation technology that was being applied to bring water into the interiors of homes. Apparently he had made quite a fortune, even been named "Minister of Trade". _So, _I thought, _not only does he steal my flora, he steals my water-movement ideas as well!_

It had been my idea, this irrigation system. A way for me to flood my vegetable beds with less work my aching back. And he had stolen it. I suppose the only satisfaction I could derive from this state was that Fritjof no longer had a child to raise with his new-found wealth. Not that he lived pompously. Word was that he and his wife, Demeter, spent their entire fortune paying for searches and information of their long lost daughter.

This certainly gave me a chuckle. There was no one for them to derive information _from!_ I allowed myself a small snigger. No one knew of her wherabouts because no one had even _seen_ her! The tower really was an idea of genius. And I didn't even have to waste energy building it! Just took the child up in an old watchtower and left her there. The only magic required was to remove the spiral staircase and door.

As the drizzle turned into sleet, the drumming noise of frozen raindrops pitter-pattering against my window, like the sound of a lost handful of beads skittering across the floor, quickened, and I unsteadily tested my aching leg joints again on the floorboards. My knees always hurt during thunderstorms, and this was the mother of them all.

I cursed the weather. It would be hell to travel in, much less scale a fifty-foot vertical wall. But it would have to be done. I was not as young as I used to be, (I cackled quietly to myself at the ironic pun.) and I was feeling too ill this morning to avoid going, for if I did absorb that ounce of immortality, I would not be able to rise again tomorrow to taste it again.

_But perhaps the storm will lessen,_ I thought as I poked through my closet for my cloak. I would give it a few hours to blow it's self out, and then I would go to my pretty bird.

**--Christian's POV—**

In any other circumstance I might simply have thrown up my hands in disgust at the miserable abuse I was handling today and asked God what he what more he wanted from me, but considering the present situation, I decided against it. Despite the lack of skill these men possessed, and almost certain wanting in aim, the fact remained that the odds were still four to one...and one of those arrows was bound to find it's mark.

Flexing my grip on my rapier, I reflected on the immense unfairness of this predicament. Now I had accepted the fact that I have not always been of the finest character in the realm...but I had learned my lesson! Shifting my eyes heavenward I cried out silently, _Do I really have to receive _all_ of my punishment _TODAY_!?_ _Haven't I suffered enough already? _But the powers that be did not reply. Quite the opposite, I got the feeling that some god up there was laughing his head off at me.

Taking a deep breath I turned with as much composure as I could muster and faced Barnabus. "My Lord, you are making a mistake," I warned.

He speech was slow and choppy, "You will return to the castle this minute."

Eyes narrowing, I challenged, "And if I don't?"

"Then I will be forced to order my men to fire upon you."

Even as he said this, I could see the uneasy looks the sextons were giving each other out of the corners of their eyes. A particularly fat one looked most troubled. Their nervous fingers twitched against the cold wood and metal of their crossbows in the now falling sleet. If they weren't careful one of their quivering fingers might very well pluck the trigger before Barnabus was able to call the order.   
"Listen, sire, be reasonable..." 

"Reasonable? Be _reasonable?!_" The King's voice hit an ear-splitting note on the last word. "My boy do you have any idea what I have been through to secure my daughter's future through this marriage?"

Before I could answer Barnabus flicked his wrist and two of the guards dropped their crossbows and tackled me!

I would have screamed for help, but the force thrust my face into the bone-chilling mud. As I attempted to wrench myself from the muck and beat back my assailants, I heard Barnabus crying, "Not you, nor anyone else is going to ruin this for me!" Then the more corpulent of the two men threw himself on my back, blocking my vain attempts at struggle. Instinctively I reached for my sword, but this was promptly kicked away and the punch that sailed in after it and collided with the base of my neck, shut down the lights in my head.

The last thing I remember before I completely lost consciousness was marveling at the utter unjustness of the world. 


	19. Surrender is a Sort Unknown

DISCLAIMER: As usual, Rapunzel belongs to the Brother's Grimm.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! I've finally decided to finish, "Without A Stair!" So here goes! Only a few more chapters left! Let me know what you think!

Rapunzel's POV

The sound was driving me crazy. The rhythmic tick-tick-ticking of my grandfather clock answered the murmur of the sleet on the windowpane. Their conversation seemed deafening against the thick silence of the room.

_Where was he?_

Thunder growled at the flicker of lighting outside my window.

_And more importantly, where was she?_

Agrona should have been here by now. It was already past noon. True, the storm could have kept her, but she had never come later than mid-day. My stomach was already beginning to rumble like the thunderclouds outside.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Even Christian should have climbed up my tower by this time. He had agreed to wait until Agrona had left to elope, so that I could bid her goodbye…but this was too long. Much too long.

Ding. Ding. Ding-dong.

The clock began to chime with a smug grin on its face.

Dong. Dong. Ding-dong.

I fretted a bit of my plait.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

_What could possible have gone wrong?_

Dong Dong. Ding-dong.

_Was she hurt? And even if so, why wasn't Christian here?_

Dong!

_Damnit._

Dong!

_Two o'clock._

Having finished its chiming, the clock went back to ticking in an increasingly self-satisfied tone. I tried to take my mind off it, but my books were packed and all I could do was sit and wonder why no one had come for me. All I could do was wait.

Christian's POV

The smell. Something was rotting.

I opened my eyes and glanced about in the murky light. I tried to raise my hands to rub the blur out of my eyes, but found them caught behind my back. Instinctively I gasped…and gagged on the foul stench.

As I struggled to get my breathing under control, my eyes cleared and I glanced around the room, looking for the source of the odor.

The rafters above me were stained a deep russet as rain steadily seeped through a crack in the roof and trickled down the beams, to the dank stone walls. Here, moss was beginning to trace a fait line from the domed roof down the crevices between limestone blocks, to the decayed floorboards, which lay cold and dusty against my cheek. Straw lay molding in piles against the walls. The room was lit with a pale light, which slowly inched upwards to meet the rafters.

I strained to pull myself into a sitting position, but only managed to roll onto my other side…face-to-face with a decomposing rat.

The smell hit me like wave. My eyes watered and only through the violent heaving of my stomach did I manage to pull myself upright, before I vomited onto the dusty floor.

Luckily, there wasn't much in my stomach. Despite the ripples of nausea that still cascaded through my stomach, I was hungry. It felt like I hadn't eaten for an entire day.

Glancing over at the putrid rodent again, a bit of bile rose in the back of my throat. I had to get out of here. My hands were bound behind me but my feet were free. If I could get my hands in front of me so that I could see the bind, I would probably be able to work my way out.

Laying down on my back, I raised my legs into the air, and slowly, between breaths, I inched my bound wrists over my backside and wriggled my legs free. Now my hands were in front of my body.

I sat puzzling at the knot. It was a pretty juvenile knot. Not terribly well tied, but extremely tight. The rope chafed my skin each time I moved. As I set to untwisting my hands, a voice drifted up to me from below the floorboards. I pressed my ear to the floor to listen.

"But what will we tell their majesties when we bring him to the engagement ceremony?" a nasally voice whined.

A slow, choppy voice replied, "Nothing. We don't say anything to implicate ourselves. Let the Prince work this out with the King and Queen." I knew that voice from somewhere.

"But he's going to tell them what we've done!"

A jerking chuckle. "No he won't. We know where he's been going every day for the past month. And if he doesn't want anything to happen to that pretty little lady he's been seeing he'll keep his mouth shut." Barnabus. It had to be! It was his cavalry that had followed me that first morning to Rapunzel's tower!

"I'm sorry sire. I guess I just don't think Christian will buy our bluff."

"Bluff?!" The Barnabus spat, "This is no bluff. You saw that outlandish tower his little sweetheart lives in! If he says _one word_ about tonight I swear to God I'll burn the damn thing down with her in it!" It was no longer hard to hear. The King's voice had risen significantly.

"But sire! She's just a girl! The tower's so high and no stairs…you'd be burning her alive!"

"I don't give a damn! My treasury is bankrupt. The only way for us to survive is for that spoiled brat of a Prince to marry my daughter. I don't care what it takes. I will have that betrothal made tonight!"

"But sir—"

"You will bring him down just after the clock has struck the midnight hour. Is that understood?"

"Yes, but—"

"That will be all Corporal."

A sigh. "Thank you sir."

I snapped back up and staggered to my feet. At midnight? What time was it now? Stumbling over to the shattered window I looked out…and saw the blood-red sun slip beneath the horizon. Nine o'clock. I only had three hours left.

Agrona's POV

Sunset. I groaned with the weight of lifting my haggard bones out of my chair and hobbled as quickly as I could out the front door, past the immature rampion sprouts in my garden. I had only sat down for a minute…but had fallen asleep and nearly wasted all of the daylight. Now I would have to travel by twilight to the tower.

Rapunzel would be waiting for me safe and sound within her tower. A little hungry perhaps, because I had not brought her breakfast or dinner, but waiting none-the-less. The climb up the wall would be tiring, but as soon as I had clambered up into the room I would be able to sink my hands into her vibrant hair and feel the life rushing back into me.

The journey to the tower was taking longer than usual. I stumbled over roots and bramble, racing the dying light. If it grew dark before I reached the tower, my failing eyesight might not be enough to guide me to Rapunzel. And if I didn't reach her tonight…I might not wake up the next morning.

Christian's POV

I spat on my wrists to lubricate them, and twisted my hands against the ropes. The threads burned my skin, drawing small droplets of blood. I inhaled sharply and bit my lower lip. My skin stung, but the ropes had to come off. I spat again and pulled my hands further out of the knots, but not far enough.

Leaning down, I grasped a loop of rope in my teeth and pulled. One side of the knot slipped free. I twisted my wrists again to loosen the cords and felt the threads cut into my skin, smearing blood across the rope. Once more, I pulled at the knot with my teeth…and my hands slipped free!

Sighing, I rubbed my wrists and peered out the window to get my bearings. Below I could see the familiar patched roof of the stables and hear the faint whinny of Phillip. Perfect! I was out of sight and hearing range of the castle for sure. No one would find me here…but I could get to my horse! The only problem was the conversation I had heard earlier. It had come from beneath me.

I turned back to bend down and peer through the floorboards. Kicking the decaying rat out of the way I lowered my self to the ground, and could see the balding head of a guard in foreign colors through the slats in the floor. I wouldn't be able to simply walk downstairs, that was for sure.

Back at the window, I thought quickly. I had to get to Phillip before the guard saw me. And I didn't have much time. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, and if I wasn't back with Rapunzel before midnight…it was too awful to think about.

I slipped myself over the ledge and dropped down to the roof below. Catching my breath I tried to listen for any sign that the guard had heard me, but could hear nothing. I crawled to the edge of the roof and scanned the wall below for windows.

There was a small rooster-ledge not three feet below me. Hoping it would hold my weight; I dropped down and swung myself inside the barn. Landing as softly as I could, I froze again, waiting to hear a response from the guard… nothing.

Below, I could see Phillip standing in his stall not 50 feet away. Just across the hall from his stall stood the rather pudgy guard, leaning against the door to the tack room…snoozing away.

Giving a small sigh of relief and suppressing a chuckle, I stepped out onto the rafters and began to edge my way across. Heel-to-toe I transverse the barn, now and then stopping to listen for the guard's steady breathing. Just as I was about to cross over Phillip's stall, the stable doors flew open with a bang and King Barnabus stormed in!

"Gregor! I thought I told you to—Oh God!" He and the newly roused Gregor stared up at me in shock.

"Don't just stand there, SEIZE HIM!" Barnabus exclaimed, as the poor guard fumbled for his sword.

There was no time! I jumped from the rafters and broke my fall in a heaping pile of Phillip's hay. Scrambling up, I mounted my horse, kicking the pudgy Gregor out of the way, and taking a hold of Phillip's hair I urged him into a canter out the door!

Behind me I could hear Barnabus stuttering, "Get him! Call the cavalry! I want him hunted down and brought back!"


	20. A Common Night

Chapter 20

DISCLAIMER: The Brother's Grimm owns "Rapunzel."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to those who reviewed! It's good to be back. We've only got a couple of chapters left so hold on, because everything's about to get crazy!

**Christian's POV**

We raced out into the thunderstorm, heedless of the blinding rain all around. Beneath me, Phillip's coat was so slick that I had difficulty keeping my seat or even gripping his soaked mane. Guiding him as well as I could towards Rapunzel's tower, I trusted my faithful horse to avoid the trees, brooks, and other perils of the forest.

We had to hurry. Barnabus and his men had seen us leave. They knew where the tower lay and would try to stop us if given the chance. Our only hope now was to find Rapunzel and return to the safety of the castle.

Phillip flew through the woods. Ducking branches and clutching his mane for dear life I kept my seat and urged him on faster. Not a few times did the wet earth give way beneath us and cause Phillip to stumble. But we pressed on. Faster than I had ever known Phillip could gallop, we raced through the forest until at last the familiar spire of Rapunzel's tower pierced the tree tops.

I threw myself down from Phillip's back and rushed out of the trees, towards the tower.

**Agrona's POV**

The rain was getting worse. I tried to conjure a protective shield from the rain, but I did not have the strength. By now I could hardly run and kept tripping over loose branches and roots. My eyesight, poor as of late, was nearly blinded by the wet torrent. What kept me from losing my way was only that I had traveled this route so many times before that my feet knew the way, even if my eyes could not see it. The usual basket of food and silverware I carried at my side seemed heavier than usual.

At last I could feel the thicket clearing and could make out the dark shape of Rapunzel's tower looming overhead.

**Rapunzel's POV**

I had almost dozed off, listening to the murmur of rain against the windowpane when I heard a cry from outside, nearly deafened by a clap of thunder.

"Rapunzel!"

I started and flew to the window.

"RAPUNZEL!"

I unlatched the glass and squinted through the downpour. By now the sun had vanished, leaving the voice below cloaked in darkness. I shaded my eyes from the rain and tried to make out the figure.

"LET DOWN YOUR HAIR!" the voice bellowed, still nearly lost to the storm.

Hurriedly, I knotted my hair around the hook on the wall and dropped the 20 eels of blonde locks down the tower wall.

My companion grasped the tresses and began to climb up. The wind and rain lashed them against the stone wall on more than one occasion, but at last a cloaked arm flung its self over the windowsill and I heaved the body in.

Agrona grasped for my hair and coughed up several mouthfuls of rainwater. I pulled her over to my rocking chair and helped her to sit down.

"God lord child," she wheezed, still grasping my hair as if her life depended on it. "What took you so long? I called to you and called to you but you just stared down at me." She hiccoughed and chuckled a bit. "Did you think I was someone else?"

"Of course not!" I laughed, pulling her close and wrapping a shawl around her trembling shoulders. "It had to be you. You are so much heavier than the Prince!"

**Agrona's POV**

My hands, running through her tresses, stopped dead. "What?" I hissed, not believing I had heard correctly.

Rapunzel's eyes widened. She froze, with her arms still holding the shawl around me. "I…I…" she stammered.

"_Prince_, Rapunzel?!" I locked her hair in an iron grip and pulled her face close to mine. "Have you been seeing someone? Have you invited one of those horrid beasts into this tower?"

She tried to shrink away, her hands reached to disentangle mine from her hair, but gaining strength from her golden locks, I held her fast. Silence stretched out between us as her eyes told me everything I needed to know. She stuttered in such a small voice, "I—we…we were going to tell you!"

"WHAT?!" I cried out and with newfound might rose and shoved her against the wall, her hair still in my grasp. "Tell me _what_?!"

"The Prince—Christian, he and I are going to live together. He asked me to be his wife!" Rapunzel spluttered, her hands still struggling to unwrap my fingers from her tresses. "He was coming here today to take me to his castle! He—"

**Rapunzel's POV**

She slapped me and threw me to the floor, her hands still locked around my braid. "HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Agrona screeched.

I struggled to sit up, and felt my stinging cheek. She had slapped me! Agrona had never struck me before! "He's not bad Agrona!" I tugged at my hair, trying to free my locks and explain to her "He loves me!"

"Love!" she cackled, in a voice that seemed so foreign on her lips, "Oh I'm sure! Love! Love! Love! That's what they always say! Until they've got you in their clutches and can do with you what they please!" She had begun to advance on me, and I crawled backwards across the floor, away from this woman who had transformed into someone I no longer knew. "You're lucky I found out when I did! What if that man had tried to take you out of this tower? You know it's not safe out there!"

What was she doing? I had known she would be upset, but this… I inched backward, away from her. "Agrona? Agrona please, it's not that bad out there—"

"NO!" she cried out and stepped back, a look of horror on her face. "You left the tower?! You _left _the tower? The only safe place you have? It's terrible out there Rapunzel! You have no idea of the dangers! The forest is crawling with those rabid, cunning creatures…men! You could have been killed!"

"No!" I screamed. "It's not like that! The forest is beautiful, and there are so many wonderful things that I could never see from this tower!" I could see Agrona's hands flexing their grip on my hair as her nostrils flared.

"It is _not_ beautiful. It's dangerous!"

"No, it's not!" I shouted as my back met the wall. There was no more room to flee. Agrona towered over me, still clutching my plait. She seemed stunned into silence. I grasped at the wall and pulled myself up to meet her glare.

"The world _is_ beautiful. I know it is dangerous. When I was out I was stung by an insect and nearly drowned by the ocean. But it is that danger which makes it so beautiful! Here in this tower, where I am 'safe' there is nothing to learn! Nothing to challenge or inspire awe. Agrona" I reached out to take her hand, "Come with me. Let me show you what I have seen."

"Insolent girl!" she screeched and grasped my wrist. "After all that I have done for you, how _dare _you try to leave?! I'll see to it that this Prince, this ogre never takes you away again!" She drew her arm up to strike me—

"Rapunzel!" a faint voice called from outside. Christian.

Agrona's eyes widened in anger, and then a slow, wicked smile spread over her face. "Come here," she hissed and, winding my hair around her arm, drew me over to the window. Bending down, she slipped her hand into the basket she had brought and withdrew a knife.

Pressing herself to the wall, out of sight of the window, she whispered, "Now, pull him up!"

I whimpered at the pain of her grasp on my hair, "What are you going to do?"

"Rapunzel!" Christian called out again.

Agrona tipped the knife towards my throat. "Do it."

My hands shook as I lowered my hair out the window. Agrona still had a hold on it, which shortened the length. Now it wasn't long enough to secure to the hook.

Below, Christian began to pull himself up the tower. Far out into the forest, I could see tiny flickers of light moving towards us, almost like torches.


	21. A Thing That Can Ignite

DISCLAIMER: As usual.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you again to all of my lovely reviewers! Now, here's the big scene you've all been waiting for! However, this is NOT the last chapter so hang around to see how Without A Stair is resolved!

Also a warning: this chapter gets kind of graphic towards the end so watch out.

Rapunzel's POV 

"Agrona, what are you doing?" I gasped. With each pull Christian made on my hair I felt the jerk down to my scalp. Tears began to well in my eyes from the pain.

With the tip of the knife blade still pointed at my throat, Agrona never took her eyes off the young man ascending my tower. "Only what must be done," she murmured distantly. "Now stop your crying. I'm doing this to protect you. You'll thank me once he's gone."

"But _you're_ the one who's hurting me!" I pleaded, pulling at my hair and eyeing the knife.

She snorted. Amusement flickered over her eyes. "Don't worry my pretty little bird. This is for your own good."

Christian was now over halfway up the wall. While he usually scaled the tower so quickly, this time the howling wind and blinding rain had hindered his progress. Every couple of minutes I felt him slip and clutch my plait even tighter. I dug my fingers into Agrona's age-spotted skin, slick from the rainwater, as the pain intensified. But she didn't seem to feel it. Her eyes never left Christian's flailing form and began to burn bright green as he came closer to the windowsill.

My own eyes were flooded with the rain, but I could not wipe away the water for the tearing pain in my scalp that caused me to bite my lower lip 'till it bled. All I could see was Christian's blurred form below, and the twinkling torch lights moving towards us far out into the forest.

"Not a word," Agrona hissed in my ear as Christian climbed the last few feet. "Say nothing and this will all be much less painful."

Christian's POV 

This was turning out to be the worst day of my life, and I have known my share of bad days. When I was five, I fell asleep on a pile of hay one evening and got locked in the sheep pen overnight. At 12 I spent a miserable month seasick on one of my father's whaling expeditions, and at 16 I got bested by a girl in front of the whole kitchen staff.

But today topped it all. Aside from rising at the ungodly hour of 5am, I had been insulted in every possible manner, knocked unconscious, chased by a homicidal horde of hooligans, and now I was trying to scale a 20-eel-high wall during the middle of what was probably the worst thunderstorm in recent memory. Just peachy.

This probably wasn't the type of romantic elopement Rapunzel had counted on. Seeing as how I was sopping wet and rather bruised, and being chased by murdering mercenaries. But it would have to do. I sure hoped she was packed.

Aside from trying not to fall and kill myself, I tried to figure out what to say to Rapunzel once I finally got inside. _Hi honey, there's a mad king on his way to burn the tower down. Sorry we have to rush. _Or, _On the bright side, you don't need to worry about your hair! _

Finally reaching the top, I threw my arm over the windowsill and was just about to ask for a hand when—

Rapunzel screamed.

The flash of a knife.

A violent wave of the braid.

My hands slipped.

Rapunzel's POV 

The weight was gone from my hair! I thrust my head out of the window just in time to see Christian's fall broken by a rosebush. And somewhere, someone was screaming in a horrible, high-pitched voice. I think it was me.

Agrona clutched at me from the floor. She gasped and grabbed for my hair but I backed away in terror and tried to remember what had happened. Everything had been so fast! All I knew was that at the moment Christian reached into the window Agrona had plunged the knife downward towards his back, but something…someone?…had knocked her back.

It couldn't have been me. No. No, I wouldn't do that. Not to her. Not to Agrona…would I?

I took a few shaky steps back and watched, horrified, as Agrona crawled towards me, her hands still clutching for my hair. Her eyes boring into me and her mouth open in a choking cry. She gasped for breath and clawed the floorboards as she reached for me.

"Ra-pun-zel…please…" she panted.

I couldn't find the breath to speak.

"Hair…give me…your hair…"

Stepping backward, my foot slipped on something hard and smooth. The knife.

Agrona's POV 

Her hair was so close. Just a few inches away. But my body was weak without the golden threads of life and I could hardly manage the strength to crawl. Even my breathing was labored, coming in short heaves and gasps.

Foolish girl. Just like her mother holding out that pathetic piece of silver, Rapunzel took the knife in her hands, holding it with a look of absolute bewilderment. She kept looking from it to me with those wild blue eyes, confounded by the strange situation. But she would never hurt me. I knew that as surely as I knew that I could regain my strength if only I could get a hold of her hair. Why I had raised her! She knew nothing of this world except for me! Me! I was her universe! I was her protector, her guardian! I was everything!

At last she backed into the wall. Her hair within my grasp. I reached out to take the golden life-force into my hands when—

Smoke.

Clouding my eyes and stinging the back of my throat, smoke poured into the room. Amidst my hacking and desperate grabs for the braid, I could vaguely make out the glow coming from Rapunzel's bedclothes. The sharp smell of burning feathers from the pillows. Somewhere outside the whooping and hollering of several men drifted up.

Rapunzel darted to the window and as she ran by a length of her golden plait fell into my hands. Through the murky darkness of the smoke I held on for dear life.

Rapunzel's POV 

Outside there were over a dozen armored men touting torches and yelling obscenities as they rode off into the night. I had no idea who they were or why they had set the blaze to my tower and fled. But worse, I couldn't see Christian anymore.

The rain was still pounding my walls, but the wind fed the fire and the inferno continued to rage. Smoke seeped into my nostrils and I choked on the bitter air. All around the room my furniture was catching fire. My bed had nearly been reduced to ashes and the precious pages of the books I had packed in my pillowcases were fluttering about in their final moments of golden glory.

Agrona was struggling to her feet, now embracing my hair for all she was worth.

"Rapunzel?" she croaked, "Rapunzel come to me. Pretty bird, I need more of your hair."

"What?!" I shrieked and bent down to pick her up. "Agrona you can't be serious! The tower is burning! We have to get out of here!"

She flailed her arms, reaching for my plait and gasped for fresh air like a fish on the sand. "Please…hair…I must…have more of…hair…"

Her strength was returning. She grasped my braid and pulled me down to her, staring wildly into my eyes. The fire licked the hem of my skirts and I could feel the skin on my legs singe.

"Agrona, please! Let's go!" I cried, half weeping now. Partly from the smoke and partly because I was so frightened.

"Stay with me!" she shrieked, clutching wildly at me, her fingers tearing out parts of my plait. Yards of golden threads loosened from their careful braid and began to cook in the blazing room. "I am your protector!" she screamed. "You need me! You will stay!"

My mind flooded with so many different images I could hardly see strait. I saw myself the day Agrona left me in the tower, looking down on her retreating form. I saw the countless hours spent waiting, waiting, for the only face I had seen for 17 years. I saw Christian's lopsided grin when he assured me he would not have me for lunch. I saw the ocean as I had seen it for the first time and I saw the warmth in Christian's eyes when he told me he loved me.

"NO!"

I threw myself back, and yanked my hair from Agrona's grasp. She clutched at me but I shoved her back and turned to knot my hair to the hook at the window. She lunged at me and tried to wrench the knife from my hands but I threw her off and sliced through the blonde curls at the base of my neck.

Agrona crumpled to the floor and screamed as though her body was stabbed by a thousand knives.

I threw the knife across the room and just as a fiery timber from the roof crashed down I lept out the window and began crawling down the long golden braid.

Smoke was everywhere. And it wasn't without serious effort that I managed to avoid most of the snarls of flame. I say "most" because nearly halfway down my braid caught fire, singeing my hands and nearly causing me to lose my grip. But I held on as best I could and finally, finally could see the ground through the haze of smoke and flames below me.

That was when the burning hair finally snapped.

For a moment I seemed to hang in mid-air, weightless, bound upwards by the pillars of smoke rising from the ground. Then falling, for what seemed an eternity. Covering my face with my hands to ward off the smoke and flames, I could feel my skirts catching fire.

I don't know what I expected. Perhaps the sickening crunch of my neck snapping as I hit the ground, or the blinding pain of my legs shattering…but not the white-hot jabs of a thousand thorns as I collided with the burning rosebush. Hands still covering my face, I rolled down onto the earth and let the soil beat the flames out of my clothes and cropped hair.

As soon as I had thrashed out all of the flames on my person, I struggled to my feet and shielded my eyes to stare up at the blazing inferno that had once been my home. The roof had nearly collapsed by now, and the blackened cord of my braid flailed like a snake in its throes of death. Then, high up from the blackened stone window, a piercing scream struck me. The agonizing shriek cut deep into my body and I threw my hands over my ears to block out the sound of Agrona's death.

Running from the tower, I dove into the protective cover of the woods…and collided with something soft. Christian. He moaned and rolled into a ball, curling away from me.

Relieved to see that he hadn't been burned, I dropped to the ground and began feeling his body for broken bones. Everything_ seemed _fine. Except that he was covered in blood. I glanced down at my torn, burned hands. My blood. I was getting it all over him.

"Christian?" I whispered, giving him a light shake. All I got in return was another moan. He wouldn't roll over to face me.

"Christian please turn over. I need to know you're okay!" I pleaded and tried to rotate him myself by pulling on his shoulder. "Please!"

At last he let me pull him onto his back…which was when I saw it. It wasn't my blood that covered his body. It was his. Pouring out from between the slats of his fingers covering his face, blood came from his eyes. As gently as I could I coaxed his hands away and took a look at the injury.

I threw up.

What had once been his sparkling hazel eyes was now a mess of flesh and blood, a few thorns still protruding from the soft pulp. My stomach heaved again and I turned away from the sight.

His moans softened to whimpers and after a moment I felt his hands reach for me. "Rapunzel?" he whispered.

I steeled myself and turned back to embrace my love. Taking his poor, beaten body in my arms I shushed his cries and whispered reassurance. "It's all right my love," I murmured. "I'm here. Everything will be okay. I love you." Ripping a stretch of fabric from part of my skirt which had not been burned, I removed the debris from his injury and bound his eyes.

At last his cries quieted and he could talk. "What happened? How did you get down here?"

I related the story from up in the tower and received his explanation for the soldiers who had burned down my home…with Agrona trapped in the top. Somewhere during the conversation, I felt the warm nuzzle of Phillip's nose against my back. The sweet horse had found us.

"Christian, can you stand?" I asked gently.

He considered the question and replied in the affirmative. I took his hands and helped him to his feet. Wrapping my arms around him, I guided Christian towards Phillip and boosted him up onto the horse's back. Then I swung myself up after him.

"You say this man will make the engagement with your parents at midnight?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied.

Reaching down to gather Phillip's mane into my hands I gathered my courage and whispered, "Then I sure hope this horse knows the way home." Kicking his sides, I goaded Phillip into a gallop and we took off into the night.


	22. Where Revelations Be

DISCLAIMER: Again, "Rapunzel" is not mine.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, this is it. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review my story! And look for an epilogue in the next few days! I hope this is satisfactory.

Demeter's POV 

"It's an engagement my dear, not a funeral," Fritjof said, the eyes of his reflection searching for mine in the mirror. I took advantage of the dark shroud over my face, and looked down to my hands, fiddling with two pearl hair combs. They were the only luxury we possessed, a present from Frit the day we moved to the palace. My husband's position as Minister of Trade was certainly lucrative enough, but every penny we earned we funneled into the search for our daughter.

Until today. At sunrise, the last of the investigative ships had returned, but they brought no news. Once again, I had seen the black sails of mourning on the horizon, and once again I raced down to the docks, searching for the Captain's face. But his eyes wouldn't meet mine. He moved slowly, deliberately, as though trying to avoid my questions. And when I did finally intercept his path, his eyes only flickered to mine as he sighed, "I'm sorry. There's nothing more we can do," and moved on.

I stood there, watching the crimson orb slip over the horizon, as tears slid from my lashes and fell quietly into the sea. Then, when Helios' chariot had finally begun its race across the sky, I returned to my room and began donning my black mourning clothes.

Now, I prepared myself to attend the engagement ceremony of Prince Christian of Sonra to Princess Almira of Mordova. Fritjof and I had been asked as witnesses to the signing of the contract, but I could hardly move from my position by the mirror. My own daughter was born the same day as the Prince. It was _her _engagement ceremony I should have been attending, not his. And now that the last of the searches had returned home empty-handed, I knew that I would never see my child again. Queen Rhainnon complained of her son's rebelliousness, but at least she had her child. I knew now that mine would never come home.

At last, Frit gently took the combs from my hands and pinned up my graying locks. Lifting the veil as he had on our wedding day, he kissed away the wet from my eyes and escorted me down to the great hall.

I don't know what I had expected. Maybe flowers and banners; crowds pushing for a view; minstrels in the wings…a celebration. But instead, the few occupants of the room seemed as somber as I. There were no guests. Only King Edric, Queen Rhainnon, King Barnabus, Princess Almira, Frit, and myself were present. And my husband and I were only there to serve as the two required witnesses for a legally binding contract.

As we approached the table, I shivered. The room was empty and dank. Shadows crept towards the party. A single fire had been lit in the middle of the hall, but aside from that, no lanterns chased the lurking shade from the table around which we stood.

I glanced around the table. Rhainnon and Edric appeared tense. She, glancing out windows towards the church bell tower every few seconds, and he frowning off into space as he tugged fitfully at his beard. To the right, the young Princess examined her cuticles absently while her father, the only man in the room who seemed to be enjoying himself, stood behind her and toyed with the ink-quill. Then my eyes fell on empty space.

"Where is Prince Christian?"

The crackle of the fire punctuated the silence. Barnabus coughed, and the King and Queen glanced at the clock tower again. The bells began to chime midnight.

Rhainnon sighed, "We will be signing the agreement on his behalf." Barnabus nodded swiftly and for a moment I thought I saw a slight smile flicker over his lips.

"Barnabus?" Edric asked, "If you are ready I would prefer to dispense with the usual pageantry and get down to business."

Barnabus stepped forward and dipped the quill in the inkwell. "Certainly!" he called, almost musically, as he signed his name on the contract with a flourish and passed the document to his daughter. "What a clownish boy! Who knows what he's up to now!"

Almira bent down so low to the contract that her nose nearly brushed the parchment. Then she began scratching her name out, slowly, with firm, deliberative strokes. Her brow furrowed as she muttered the letters to her name.

When she had finally printed her name with child-like block letters, the Princess passed the parchment to King Edric and he affixed his signature and seal. The wax smudged when a soldier's call outside startled his hand. Edric, Rhainnon and Barnabus all jumped and looked to the door. But silence again swept around the hall, and Rhainnon bent to ink her name on the page before sliding the document towards Frit.

My husband affixed his signature and handed me the quill as the echo of horses hooves sprinted across the air. Startled, I dropped the quill. Ink smudged my hands and dribbled down my skirt. As I bent to pick it up, the doors to the great hall flew open with a bang! And a giant horse carrying two riders thundered in! The stallion threw its self to a halt at the end of the table and let out a neigh of protest.

A collective gasp rose from our party, followed by several exclamations of surprise, dismay, and astonishment. In the confusion, Princess Almira knocked over the inkwell, the black liquid spilling over the table and dripping off the edges.

Sliding off the steed, a young lady in a tattered dress rushed towards the table. Her blonde hair was cropped uneven and close to her head. Parts of it appeared to have been burnt. Some whole strands fell nearly to her collar bone, but most not passed her jaw. Her wild blue eyes flashed with passion as they sought our faces.

"King Edric? Queen Rhainnon?" she demanded, her voice urgent.

The royal couple barely managed a nod.

"You cannot sign that paper!" the girl cried, slapping her palm down on the table. She winced, and rubbed her hand. It was splotched shiny red, like a burn.

Edric stepped toward her. "Just a minute now. Who are you? And who is…oh God…" Edric's eyes widened in horror as he took in the figure still seated silently atop the horse. He clutched the table for support. "Christian?"

The person fumbled for his horse's mane and began to pull himself down off the mount, the young girl hurrying to guide him off the horse and towards the King. At first none could understand why he needed aid, for his matted hair hung over his face. But then we saw it. His eyes were covered with a cloth bandage.

He was dirty and bruised. Most of his clothes were torn and their edges laced with blood. And as he and his companion slowly make their way towards the King, he stumbled and hit his thigh against the table edge. Edric rushed forward to help the boy, "Christian!" he gasped and yelled to the guards outside the door, "Someone call a doctor!"

"Father!" the young man exclaimed and fell into Edric's arms. As the pair embraced, Rhainnon hurried to her son and as she stroked his dirty cheek she whispered, "My God Christian, what happened to you?"

"It was a mistake." Christian said quietly, pressing his palm to his mother's face. "But this," he reached for the girl and held up her arm for all to see, "this was _no accident_!" I could see the young lady wince as Christian's fingers brushed the angry red burns. For a moment, those blue eyes found mine, and then looked back to the Prince.

Rhainnon gently began examining the girl's burns and singed hair. "What happened?" she demanded, fingering the charred tatters of the girl's dress. "Who are you and why are you both so injured?"

"Mother," Christian fumbled for her hand, "This is the girl I told you about. The one I want to marry." He sighed, "This is where I have been going every day."

Rhainnon's eyes widened in astonishment and just as she opened her mouth to speak, Barnabus spoke up. "This is madness! The boy can hardly stand and you keep him here with questions?! He needs proper medical attention!" He tramped over and took the girl by the arm. She cried out as he twisted the burned skin.

"And who is this dirty ruffian?!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to insult me and my daughter by bringing this filthy creature here? Look at her!" he snarled and brandished her uneven, burnt hair.

"GET OFF ME!" she shouted and shoved Barnabus away. Just as he lunged to strike back, the doors flew open and two physicians came running in.

When they saw the Prince, the doctors immediately began insisting that Christian be brought to the infirmary, but the Prince shook them off and commanded, "Let me be! I am not going anywhere until this is resolved! And that man is a traitor!" he shouted, gesturing wildly in the direction of Barnabus' voice. "He incarcerated me and tried to kill her!"

Princess Almira gasped and threw her arm over her face in a dramatic swoon. Unfortunately for the Princess, no one moved to catch her as she fell.

"This is outrageous!" Barnabus cried and turned to Edric. "First you bring in this guttersnipe and claim that she is the Prince's intended; then these accusations! I have never been so insulted!"

Edric raised his hands and shouted, "SILENCE!" The room grew quite still. Then, in a low, measured voice he continued, "Someone had better explain all of this and I mean now."

The young lady stepped forward and addressed the King and Queen. "Majesties," she began, "It is true that I have been seeing your son. He comes each day to visit me, and when he came this evening it was because he had asked me to marry him, and he came to bring me here. But it was this man," she turned to Barnabus, "that tried to prevent that from happening! He attacked Christian and tried to imprison him, and then when Christian finally escaped and made his way to me _that man_ tried to burn my home with me inside it!"

A gasp came from the floor as Almira "fainted" again.

"Barnabus?" Edric asked.

Barnabus opened and closed his mouth a few times, his face blushing a bright crimson. "It's a lie! All of it! Your majesties cannot possibly suspect me of such crimes! Why I have never even _seen_ that tower before and this peasant dares to accuse me of treachery! Such insolence is intolerable. If this was my own kingdom I would have the head of any commoner that dared to speak to me in such a manner!"

Rhainnon raised her hand for silence. "Please Barnabus, let's not—"

"I never said I lived in a tower," the girl said quietly.

You could have heard a pin drop in the hall. Fritjof looked at me in amazement, but no one could seem to find the words to speak. Finally, the Queen managed, "Wh-what did you say?"

The young girl reached for Prince Christian's hand and clung to his side, her voice rising. "I never said I lived in a tower."

All eyes shifted to Barnabus. The color quickly drained from his face as he stuttered, "Well-well it doesn't matter any more. The contract has been signed! The engagement is binding!"

King Edric reached for his sword, "Guards!" he called.

"Now wait a minute—" the plump man tried to say. But before he could get any further, the Imperial sentries burst into the room.

"Seize him! Get them both out of my sight!" Edric bellowed, and the guards advanced on Barnabus.

"No! Wait! You can't do this! Unhand me you fools, I am the King of Mordova!" the fat King shrieked as he and his daughter were dragged out of the great hall.

After the doors had slammed shut behind them, Prince Christian spoke up, his voice quavering, "You…you signed the contract? It is binding?"

The Queen clutched her husband's hand and looked up at him in dismay. The King covered his mouth and glanced over to the parchment still drying on the table. Then his eyes shifted to the blazing fire in the hearth.

"Your majesties?" I finally spoke, "The contract is only valid if both parties _and two witnesses_ have signed the document…I have not signed."

As realization dawned on their faces, the Prince and his young lady shrieked with joy and clasped each other close. Her blue eyes watering in relief. Edric and Rhainnon both released a sigh; laughter erupting out of their bodies with the escaping tension. The physicians still observing from the corner shook their heads in confusion, and then approached the Prince.

"Sire, now that everything is…" the doctors paused, "settled. We must insist that you retire for medical care."

The Prince tried to control his laughter and said, "Just a minute. Mother, Father, I want you to meet my fiancée. This is Rapunzel."

My breath caught in my throat as I felt Fritjof's hand clench mine. His eyes caught mine and I nodded slowly. _Our daughter_.

I couldn't hear anything as the King and Queen embraced the girl. I saw their lips move by my mind could not process the sounds. _Our daughter_. After all these years…_our daughter_ was finally home.

Soon I couldn't see anything as my eyes filled with tears. It seemed almost too impossible. Had she really been so close all this time? I started to move towards her, but Frit caught my hand. His eyes smiled down on me.

"There will be time for that later," he whispered, "Let her have this moment. When she had been cared for and things have settled down, we will have all the time in the world."

I nodded, and rested my head on his shoulder as I watched my baby, my beautiful daughter, follow Christian out of the hall.

Rapunzel's POV 

Christian winced as the doctor dabbed alcohol on what had once been his eyes. "God that stings," he muttered.

The physician corked his bottle. "At least you have feeling. That's a good sign. I don't know what we'll be able to do, but as long as you can still feel then we may be able to operate." He glanced at the wall clock and picked up his bag. "I'll be back shortly with my lenses. We need to let the alcohol dry and clean the wound before exploring our options further. Call me if the pain persists," he said, and left the room.

Christian sighed and collapsed on his pillows. I sat down on the bed and took his hand. He was clean now. We had both been able to bathe and change clothes. I had even had the burnt strands cut off my hair. But now as he lay on the bed, skin scrubbed soft, hair lying damp against his forehead, he seemed even more vulnerable than before. I reached up and stroked his cheek with my other hand. His skin was so warm.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, kissing my wrist.

I sighed and wiped a small tear from my eye. "I'm just so sorry. This is all my fault."

"No," he said, "Why would you think that?"

"It's just that…" my voice shook and I tried to still it. "I should have left when you asked me to. If we had gone that night none of this would ever have happened."

He squeezed my hand. "But Rapunzel, there was no way you could have known what would happen. It's not your fault. You did what you needed to do."

A sob rose in the back of my throat. "But when you were climbing the tower…oh God Christian, I should have warned you! I should have n-never…l-let you…_fall_!" my voice broke as tears finally began to stream down my cheeks. "I was such a coward! If I had just had the courage to stop her—"

Christian reached up and pulled me down to him as my sobs drowned my voice. He rubbed my back and breathed words of comfort into my ears. I knew that I was probably getting his face all wet with my tears, but I just couldn't quit crying. And I certainly couldn't move away from the warmth of his arms. The pain and tension of the past few hours had built up and finally had to be released.

At last, when I had finished my cry I sat up and reached down to gather the folds of my dress. I wiped my face with the petticoats and tried to quiet the shaking in my voice.

"You know," Christian murmured, "you look really beautiful with your hair cut short."

"Wha—" I started and turned. Christian's clear hazel eyes smiled back at me.

"Oh my God!" I screamed and threw myself into his arms.

He laughed and kissed me frantically. "The tears, Rapunzel! It was your tears! Remember the bee sting? It was your tears that healed my eyes!"

Behind us, the doctor threw open the door. "What? What is it?" he asked anxiously. Then he saw Christian's eyes. "How…what…what happened?" he gasped.

Christian tightened his grip on my waist and waved the physician out of the room. "Leave us!" he laughed. "I want to be alone with my bride!"

The doctor scurried out of the room, still looking bewildered, and Christian turned back to me.

"Now, where were we?" he smiled, his eyes capturing my gaze.

I cupped his cheek with my hand and brushed my lips against his. "Right about here." Then he tousled his fingers through my hair and pulled me down into a deep kiss.

**THE END**


	23. And Angels Know the Rest

DISCLAIMER: For the last time, "Rapunzel" belongs to the Brother's Grimm.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, this is the epilogue and final chapter of "Without a Stair." Once again, I hope you all have enjoyed my story. I know I enjoyed writing it. I would appreciate your reviews and wish you all the best!

Rapunzel's POV

(Ten years later)

"Mummy, how much further?" my daughter asked, resting her little head against my chest and looking up at me with her father's hazel eyes. I took one hand from the reins to stroke her hair and then looked to my husband, riding next to us.

Christian smiled at little Aderyn and said, "We're almost there. Just a few more minutes, love." Then he twisted back in his seat and called to our mothers, "Mother? Demeter? How are you holding up?"

The Dowager Queen and my mother broke from their chattering conversation to answer Christian. In the winter of her life, Rhainnon's body was still as thin and frail as the trees in January. Her hair had silvered to the shade of an icy lake and her eyes clouded little by little until she was left with only a dim light. But her voice, still warm and golden, rose from her like a bubbling stream.

"Christian dear, if you need to stop and rest just say so! Don't look to old ladies for an excuse!" She wagged a bony finger at her son as she and my mother laughed. Oh my mother…seeing her now still brought a prick of pain. She must have been beautiful once. Her eyes like coal, her shapely profile, but her raven hair had lost its luster and her lovely figure had melted away. Even her skin, formerly flawless, had begun to wrinkle and sag with age. I ached for those years we had lost. But even now, though her hearing suffered and her bones ached, she still overflowed with love. And I bound myself to her like a sponge, soaking in her presence. Drinking in every word of affection and thirsting for more.

Our fathers had already passed on to the next life. Shortly after the disgraced King Barnabus and his preening daughter had been thrown out of Sonra, Mordova launched a flimsy retaliation and our fathers had left for battle. Neither had returned alive. I think my mother took it harder than Rhainnon did. The Dowager Queen had been well educated and had learned to manage life on her own terms. My mother, on the other hand, had married my father young. They had rarely been apart until the last war had taken his life. Myself, I never really got to know him, but mother would sit up late with me some nights, drinking jasmine tea with honey and talking. She told me the story of my birth, and the incredible journey she and my father had taken to find me. From the way she spoke, I could feel the love he must have had for me.

I felt a tug at my hair and turned to brush it out of my eyes. Not once in ten years had I let it grow long enough to touch my collarbone. Aderyn whispered, "Mummy, what's that?" and pointed a plump little finger. Just ahead, the forest cleared a little, and one could see a heap of blackened stones scattered over the grass.

We dismounted from our horses and make our way toward the ruin. The stones were laid in a circular shape, though it was hard to see with all the crumbling and scattered blocks. Gray-green mold covered most of the stones closest to the ground, and a great rosebush twisted its stalks over the whole mass.

Christian laced his fingers through mine and rested his head on top of my own. In my right hand I had his warm, comforting palm, and in the left Aderyn's tiny fingers. Mother took Aderyn's other hand, and Rhainnon found Christian's. So we stood together, looking out over the overgrown ruin that had once been my tower, the warm summer sun shining down all around.

"Aderyn," I began, "let me tell you a story."


End file.
